How Do the Toronto Maple Leafs Compare to the Jets?

Comparing The Toronto Maple Leafs to The Rest Of The Canadian Division.

In today’s edition of our continuing coverage on how the Toronto Maple Leafs stack up against their fellow competitors in the All-Canadian Division, we turn our attention westward to the province of Manitoba and the Winnipeg Jets.

Let’s look at their cap situation first. Like many teams in the NHL, the Jets are operating with very little maneuvering room under the salary cap. In fact, as of the time of writing, they are technically over the cap by about $700,000 with RW/Center RFA Jack Roslovic still to sign.

However, this projection does not take into account the $5.29 million cap hit of longtime second/third-line center Bryan Little, who, unfortunately, will not be playing this year, (in fact his career may be done) as he deals with the lingering effects of an injury. We wish him all the best, and in the meantime, his cap hit will almost assuredly be assigned to LTIR.

Notable offseason moves for Winnipeg: Traded for Paul Stastny, signed Nate Thompson, Derek Forbort, and 10th overall draft pick Cole Perfetti. Re-signed defensemen Dylan DeMelo, Nathan Beaulieu, Luca Sbisa, and Sami Niku, as well as goaltender Laurent Brossoit and Left Wing Jansen Harkins. Notable departures are center Cody Eakin, defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, Right Wing Logan Shaw, center RFA Michael Spacek and former Leaf Nick Shore.

The Jets are a team that has drafted exceptionally well. As far back as their return to Winnipeg in 2011, at least one draft pick per year has played games for the team (20 in total by my count) and several of their prospects, including Cole Perfetti, Kristian Vesalainen, David Gustafsson, Ville Heinola, and Logan Stanley are all projected to be everyday NHL players within the next year or two.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Vs. The Winnipeg Jets

The Jets, on paper, are an odd team to evaluate. They’re a playoff team, but not a clear-cut contender. They’re nowhere near as bad as teams like San Jose, Detroit, Ottawa, or even the perennial “fake contenders” like Minnesota, so what are they?

Their top-end forward talent core of Scheifele, Wheeler, Connor, Ehlers and Laine should instantly rank among the best in the league, but reported locker room drama and struggles with management, particularly regarding the often-brought-up Patrik Laine trade rumors, are holding them back. We’ve seen the effects of a toxic locker room on a good team, and they just don’t measure up to a team that’s operating as one cohesive unit.

Add in the fact that their bottom-6 is comprised of guys on their way out (like Nate Thompson) and guys that no one has ever heard of (Dominic… Toninato?) and I have to give the Toronto Maple Leafs the edge, in terms of forward roster construction.

On defense, I’m honestly surprised to be giving Toronto the edge, but the Jets d-core has taken a massive hit in recent years. They’re still trying to find guys to step up and replace the massive voids left by the loss of Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers. Don’t get me wrong, Josh Morrissey is a good player, but when it’s him, journeyman Dylan DeMelo and their merry men comprising your defense, compared to Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, and TJ Brodie? I’m taking the latter every time.

The one area where the Jets clearly beat the Leafs is between the pipes. Connor Hellebuyck is the reigning Vezina winner. Considering the thin defensive core he played with last year, there is a legitimate argument that Hellebuyck should’ve been nominated for the Hart because it is amazing that the Jets got as far as they did.

One small advantage does go to the Leafs with regards to goaltender depth. Jack Campbell and Aaron Dell vs Laurent Brossoit and Eric Comrie is a battle that Toronto wins cleanly, based solely on save percentage numbers alone.

The Jets are a good team, but they’re not a great team. They might make the playoffs as one of the representatives of the all-Canadian division, but if they do, it’ll be more likely to be the 3-4 seed rather than 1 or 2.