Editor In Leaf
Fansided

Are the Toronto Maple Leafs In the Weakest Division?

By Michael Da Ponte

TORONTO,ON - JANUARY 22: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers skates against Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on January 22, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Oilers 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO,ON - JANUARY 22: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers skates against Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on January 22, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Oilers 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 10: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs plays the puck past Nick Suzuki #14 of the Montreal Canadiens during the third period at the Bell Centre on February 10, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2.  (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 10: John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs plays the puck past Nick Suzuki #14 of the Montreal Canadiens during the third period at the Bell Centre on February 10, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2.  (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

North Division

It may be a tough pill to swallow for some, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

Much like the Lightning in the Central division the Toronto Maple Leafs are head and shoulders ahead of the rest of their division. Their recent domination of the Edmonton Oilers is evidence of how far ahead the Maple Leafs are compared to the rest of the division. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of the division is full of weak teams, in fact the Ottawa Senators are the only team in the division that has no chance at a playoff spot.

The Vancouver Canucks have been spiraling lately, and their team defense has been exposed by the elite offense in this Canadian division. Vancouver still has elite offense themselves with Brock Boeser in the top 5 in the league for goals and Quinn Hughes top 5 in assists and Elias Pettersson picking up his offense after a slow start. Without elite defense though it is easy to get exposed by the superstars of the North Division.

Five of the top six scorers in the entire NHL are from the Canadian teams, and Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews are four of the top scorers in the league over the last few seasons.

In the last three seasons only Alex Ovechkin has more goals that Draisaitl and Matthews and McDavid, Draisaitl and Marner are top three in assists over that same span. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Oilers are the top two offenses in the league, even after Toronto kept Edmonton to one goal in three games this past week. Joining them in the top five league offenses though is Vancouver and the Winnipeg Jets.

The Jets, along with the Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens will be battling all season long to secure a playoff spot. This Canadian division will have at least two teams who finish the season extremely disappointed just by not making the playoffs while the Central and West have a guaranteed three teams to make it and one surprise.

The strongest division, though, has more Cup contenders and a couple of perennial playoff teams that will be left out.

Home/Analysis