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3 Things Toronto Maple Leafs Must Do to Win Stanley Cup

By Stephen Nixon

MONTREAL, QC - MAY 29: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs attempts a shot against goaltender Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens during the first period in Game Six of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 29, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens are the first NHL Canadian team to allow a reduced capacity of 2,500 fans inside their venue. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MAY 29: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs attempts a shot against goaltender Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens during the first period in Game Six of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 29, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens are the first NHL Canadian team to allow a reduced capacity of 2,500 fans inside their venue. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Timothy Liljegren (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

No. 2: Give Entry Level Contract Players a Chance

The Toronto Maple Leafs missed an opportunity to win a cup while Matthews, Marner and Nylander were on their Entry Level Contract’s. However, there are still a few other players in their organization who could outperform their contract and give the Leafs a huge advantage.

It’s hard to believe but Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin only have one year left on their Entry Level Contract’s before they become Restricted Free Agent’s next year. As such, both of these young defenseman need to play as much as possible.

Sandin has shown potential in becoming a top-four defenseman, while that statement is still unclear with Liljegren. Toronto needs to give him his legitimate opportunity this year, or it feels like they never will.

Not only are Sandin and Liljegren young defenseman who could make an impact on a cheap deal, but Adam Brooks, Nick Robertson and Joey Anderson are three forwards who could be everyday NHLers next year.

All three forwards are making less than $800K, so if they’re given an opportunity to play everyday and excel, it would open up salary cap space for this team at the NHL Trade Deadline.

In order to win a Stanley Cup, you need to save every penny and you need an Entry Level Contract to play like a $5M player. As such, Toronto needs to give a big opportunity to those five players to open up as much cap space as possible for a deadline acquisition.

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