Top 5 Early Toronto Maple Leafs Predictions for 2021-22

The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking for a big year this coming season. In it, there may be some things happening that we won’t expect.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have dipped into free agency and found some players to help complete their roster for the upcoming season.

While there may still be some tinkering left for Kyle Dubas before the puck drops to start the season in October, it appears as though we know what this year’s group will look like.

It’s just enough information to make some predictions for the 2021-22   season.

1. The Toronto Maple Leafs will get past the first round of the playoffs

The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won a playoff series since 2004.

With Ed Belfour in net, Toronto bested the Ottawa Senators in seven games to win the Battle of Ontario. Little did anyone know that the celebration that took place that night by many of that team’s players (Mats Sundin, Joe Nieuwendyk, Tie Domi, Gary Roberts, Ron Francis, Brian Leetch, Alex Mogilny, Owen Nolan, Bryan McCabe, Darcy Tucker, Tomas Kaberle, Matt Stajan, Nik Antropov, and Alexei Ponikarovsky) would be the last one in the playoffs for close to two decades. The Maple Leafs lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games in round two that year.

Coming off a disappointing loss this past season to the Montreal Canadiens, the players certainly learned from the experience. They should be better prepared for playoff hockey and enter with a mission not to be outworked.

Playing in front of the Leafs new goalie, Petr Mrazek, who will be the starter in Game 1 (a bonus prediction for you), Toronto will be invigorated with hope and confidence. Thanks to their energy and talented lineup, the Leafs will easily cruise into the second round where they will face a tougher opponent.  Toronto won’t just win one round but they’ll win two.

The Leafs will make it all the way to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Sadly, that’s where their push for the Cup will end but it will satisfy the Toronto fanbase thirsting for playoff success.

2. The Toronto Maple Leafs will trade for Nazem Kadri at the NHL trade deadline

Forgetting about Nazem Kadri‘s unique ability to get himself suspended for the playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs will bring him home. This will be the biggest shock of the trade deadline but will make sense for both the Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche.

The Avs will look to avoid the wasted roster spot, expecting Kadri to once again find himself out of action for postseason hockey. Let’s remember that the London, Ontario native was suspended for eight games following an illegal check to the head of Blues defenseman Justin Faulk in Game 2 of the series between Colorado and the St. Louis Blues. This was very much in line with Kadri’s pattern of behavior.

He was suspended five times while with the  Toronto Maple Leafs. He was suspended for three games for interference in 2013 when he took a run at goaltender Niklas Backstrom. He served four games for an illegal check to Matt Fraser’s head in 2015 and got four again for cross-checking Luke Glendening in the face in 2016.

In 2018, Kadri took his bad-boy act to the playoffs for the first time where he threw an ugly hit on Tommy Wingels and served three games for boarding. He was then suspended five games in the first round of the 2019 playoffs for once again cross-checking a player in the face. This time, it was Jake DeBrusk who was on the receiving end.

The Avalanche might also be looking to move Kadri at the deadline if they are unable to work out an extension with him. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. By trading him, Colorado can recover some assets instead of letting him walk for nothing.

With the Leafs already familiar with the way Kadri plays and how he can fit into their lineup, it’s a strong addition to the team’s third line. Having him competing hard each game will turn into a focal point of media coverage. It will also give a much-needed boost to Sheldon Keefe’s lineup.

Kadri played 10 seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs before they traded him to the Avalanche for Tyson Barrie and Alexander Kerfoot. While with the Leafs, Kadri played 561 games where he collected 357 points on 161 goals and 196 assists. In his two seasons with the Avs, he’s played in 107 regular-season games and scored 30 goals to go along with 38 helpers.

3. Auston Matthews will reach 50 goals in a season

We have been talking about Auston Matthews chasing a milestone for years on this site. If last season had been a full 82 game schedule, there is no doubt that he would have scored 50 goals for the first time in his career. It seems like it is just a matter of time until Matthews reaches that magic number.

Last season, Matthews tucked 41 pucks past goaltenders in just 52 games. That’s an incredible scoring clip of 0.79 goals per game. If he were to continue to score at that rate and play a complete 82 game season, Matthews would have been on pace to pot 64 goals.

The rate of 0.79 seems very difficult to repeat, so let’s assume that Matthews regresses back to his 2020 goals per game rate of 0.67. That would give him nearly 55 goals if he played every game. However, to break 50 at that rate, Matthews wouldn’t need to play all 82 contests. He would only need to compete in 75 games to ensure that he reaches the milestone. Matthews would actually finish with exactly 50 goals. (all stats by naturalstatrick.com).

Rick Vaive, Gary Leeman, and Dave Andreychuk are the only Toronto Maple Leafs to have ever eclipsed the half-century mark. Matthews should be in a great position to add his name to the very short list next season. There is also the possibility that he can break a franchise record and score the most ever goals in a single season by a Leaf. The current record belongs to Vaive who had 54 goals in 1981-82.

5. Timothy Liljegren will usurp Travis Dermott in the lineup.

The expected Leafs lines for next season have the pairings ready to roll out Morgan Rielly with T.J. Brodie, Jake Muzzin with Justin Holl, and Rasmus Sandin with Travis Dermott. Even though that’s how the blueline may begin the season, it’s not how the club will go into the playoffs. Timothy Liljegren will eventually take Dermott’s place in the lineup.

Dermott struggled at times last season but is expected to be a good fit on Toronto’s bottom pairing. Clearly, Dubas believed that Dermott had value with the franchise because he ensured that the team and player would be linked for the next couple of seasons.

In early July, the Leafs signed Dermott to a two-year extension worth $3 million. Despite paying him an annual salary of $1.5 million, he will lose his spot to Liljegren. Liljegren will showcase with the Marlies that he deserved the role of the team’s sixth defenseman.

At 22 years old, Liljegren might be a more natural partner for Sandin.

Not only have the two played together with the Marlies but they each shoot different ways. Dermott, who is 24, shoots left but can play both on the left and right sides. Sandin also shoots left.

For Keefe, it make sense to put a right-shooting Dman in Liljegren on the right side instead of having Dermott play on the opposite side of the ice. Liljegren will just need an opportunity to break through and once he does, he won’t relinquish his spot for the remainder of the year.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot to prove in the coming season. These bold predictions could all come to fruition but there’s no doubt that the players themselves only have their sights set on one thing, winning the Stanley Cup.