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5 Biggest Questions Surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his game winning goal at 13:10 in overtime to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 07, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his game winning goal at 13:10 in overtime to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 07, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /

#2. Are the Leafs a Legitimate Stanley Cup Contender?

I mean the Vegas Oddsmakers seem to think so. Depending on what site you look at, the Leafs are a top-five team to win the Stanley Cup this season, and I’d have to agree.

This will be the easiest path the Leafs have to making the Stanley Cup Finals in a long time. The fact that they don’t have to worry about the Boston Bruins or Tampa Bay Lightning until the Conference Finals is huge.

Anything can happen, but the Leafs are the best team in their division, which means they should have no worry about making the playoffs. Once the playoffs start, it won’t really matter whether or not they’re the one, two, three or four-seed because there most likely won’t be fans in attendance. Home-ice advantage most likely won’t matter as much, plus they’ll be playing a team that they’d already played at least nine times previously.

Their top-four forwards are better than any other team in their division, their defensive depth has been completely upgraded, Freddie Andersen is a top-10 goaltender in the NHL and Sheldon Keefe has a full year from start-to-finish to lead this team. The Kyle Dubas Era officially begins this season and their window to win is now. This team should at the absolute minimum, win a playoff round, but more likely than not, they should be playing in the Conference Finals.

This is a huge year for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Year Five is typically a break-out season for NHL superstars, so I expect Matthews to contend for most goals and Marner for most points in the league. This is the team’s best chance to win a Stanley Cup since the Mats Sundin team’s in the late 1990s, early 2000s, so they need to make the most of this opportunity.

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