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Toronto Maple Leafs Have 3-Year Window to Win Stanley Cup

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - MAY 31: Auston Matthews #34 and Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs take to the ice to play against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Seven of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 31, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Map[le Leafs 3-1 to win series 4 games to 3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 31: Auston Matthews #34 and Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs take to the ice to play against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Seven of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 31, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Map[le Leafs 3-1 to win series 4 games to 3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have until June, 2024 to win a Stanley Cup or their window may close for another decade.

For the past 54 years, Toronto Maple Leafs fans of every age bracket have uttered the following depressing phrase after every season: “there’s always next year.” However, if this team doesn’t win in the next three campaigns, they may lose all hope completely.

For decades, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been the laughing stock of the NHL. No matter how well this team plays in the regular season, they can never reach a Stanley Cup Final. Recent expansion teams like the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators have all made it to a championship final and/or actually won a Stanley Cup, but the Leafs haven’t been able to do this since The Beatles were still touring.

Although it seems like an impossible task, the Leafs are in their window to win. They have a fantastic core, great defensive structure and a very competent general manager and head coach who can get them to the promised land.

However, they only have three years to realistically accomplish this goal.

Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Win in Auston Matthews Current Contract

If you look at how the Toronto Maple Leafs are constructed, they have four core forwards that carry the majority of scoring. Led by Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, the Leafs also have John Tavares and William Nylander who are important pieces to their offense.

Not only are they important pieces to winning a Stanley Cup this year, but they’re signed on for a while. Here are Toronto’s current players signed for the next three seasons or beyond:

  • Auston Matthews: 26-years-old after 2023-24 season
  • Mitch Marner: 27-years-old after 2023-24 season
  • William Nylander: 28-years-old after 2023-24 season
  • John Tavares: 33-years-old after 2023-24 season
  • T.J. Brodie: 34-years-old after 2023-24 season
  • Jake Muzzin: 35-years-old after 2023-24 season
  • Petr Mrazek: 32-years-old after 2023-24 season

Marner and Tavares are signed until the 2024-25 campaign, but the rest of the player’s deal ends after the 2023-24 season.

If you look at the core of this roster, all seven of these players are the most important to team success. The only person missing would be Morgan Rielly, who the team would like to re-sign long-term.

If the Leafs don’t win a Stanley Cup in the next three years, it’s possible that Matthews and Nylander will leave. As Unrestricted Free Agent’s, every team will be lining up to sign these players and it’ll be hard to resist the money in the open market, especially when Toronto is such a high-taxed place to play.

Brodie, Muzzin and Tavares will be past their prime, while Marner won’t be able to carry the team himself. Mrazek may be a fine goaltender at that point still, but if the team in front of him isn’t the same one as today, they won’t have a chance to compete.

Next. Who Cares if Leafs Never Win a Cup. dark

No matter what it takes, or who they need to trade, the Leafs need to be aggressive with their moves to set this core up to win NOW, because if they don’t, they may not get an opportunity like this for a long time.

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