Last year Jason Spezza surprised everyone by being a significant contributor and having a pretty good season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Every season there is at least one player on every team that turns out to be a pleasant surprise. For the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was Jason Spezza last season and Tyler Ennis in the 2018-19 season.
With Spezza re-signing, Toronto is hoping he brings the same energy to the team that he did last season. He has made it known how badly he wants to win, so I don’t see that being a problem.
The question now is who will be this year’s version of last year’s Spezza? With the Leafs adding several new faces to their lineup, there is a healthy dose of possible candidates. I will take a look at the three most likely candidates and describe how I think each of them will do this season.
Pleasant Surprise Candidates For The Toronto Maple Leafs
Joe Thornton
If Thornton can produce at the same rate as he did during the 2018-19 season as opposed to last season, then that would be a pleasant surprise. Thornton signed with Toronto with one thing in mind and that is to win the Stanley Cup.
I would expect him to be the Leafs’ third-line centre this season which should give him roughly 15 minutes of ice-time a night. He could see even more ice time by playing on one of the team’s power-play units.
In a shortened season, I’m predicting Thornton to score 12 goals and 28 assists for 40 points.
(All stats from: hockey-reference.com)
Wayne Simmonds
During the 2017-18 season, Simmonds scored 24 goals and 22 assists for 46 points. His production has gone down since then, but part of that could be from bouncing around and playing for four different teams over the last two seasons.
I think Simmonds will play on the third-line with Thornton, but will also spend some time on the fourth-line. Having either Thornton or Spezza as his centreman is a plus for Simmonds. He will be looking to get comfortable and settled in playing for his hometown Leafs.
I’m predicting that Simmonds will score 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points.
Zach Bogosian
Last season was a complete write-off for Bogosian. He missed a lot of time recovering from hip surgery. Once he returned, he found it hard to stay in the lineup for Buffalo which lead to him being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic cutting last season short, Bogosian played eight games for the Lightning. He was not very noticeable in those eight games, but he made a big impact during the playoffs.
During the Lightning’s Stanley Cup playoff run, Bogosian was solid on their blueline. His ice time during the playoffs averaged out to 17:40 per game and he was much more noticeable. He collected 44 hits in 20 games to help the Lightning win the Stanley Cup. The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking for that kind of play from Bogosian when the season starts.
I’m predicting that Bogosian will score two goals and 14 assists for 16 points, but it will be his defensive play, his hitting, and his penalty killing that will make him stand out.
I will be hoping that all these predictions come true, but if I had to choose just one of these players to be this season’s pleasant surprise, I would have to pick Joe Thornton.