The Toronto Maple Leafs Should Win A Trophy that Doesn’t Exist
By Jeff Borsuk
A new set of circumstances in the NHL should bring about a new award. The Toronto Maple Leafs should have it locked up this season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will likely be playing in an all-Canadian Division when the season begins on Jan. 13. This will be done to eliminate the need for cross-border play. It is expected that the first time Canadian teams may play in America would be the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals.
With the realignment of divisions and the potential of a historic season, the NHL needs to properly address these changes. The league needs to hand out a pair of trophies. One would be the NHL American Cup. It would be given to the American based team who has the best regular-season record.
North of the border, there would be another trophy awarded, the NHL Canadian Cup. This award would go to the top regular-season Canadian team.
Toronto Maple Leafs Are the Best Canadian Team
Having a unique pair of trophies is important to commemorate a season like none other. There would likely be only one all-time winner of each of the NHL American and Canadian Cups since those trophies would never need to be defended.
Should the NHL split the nations, the Maple Leafs would be poised to be the top team in their division. Their team can now boast that it has a captain on every line so it’s not lacking leadership or experience.
The Leafs can also combine a pair of forwards who haven’t played together since University. The team may be able to rekindle the magic Jimmy Vesey and Alex Kerfoot had when playing for Harvard Crimson. Vesey did win the Hobey Baker award as a result.
Toronto is so flush with talent that it may even be struggling to decide whether one of its young, upcoming star players should even make the team. Nick Robertson has a bright future and looks NHL-ready but the Leafs lineup is so stacked that it may be difficult to find his place on the roster.
Fans should not look past the Maple Leafs this season. While the odds of them winning the Stanley Cup are 8/1, there should be better odds on the Leafs being the best in Canada. After all, Toronto finished last season with the second-best Canadian record, just two points behind the Edmonton Oilers.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have a chance to make history. Without there being much good coming from this pandemic, some new hardware added to the Leafs trophy case would at least be a small positive takeaway.