Who Will Earn the Left Wing Jobs in the Toronto Maple Leafs Top 6?

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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Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – MAY 31: Morgan Rielly #44 of the Toronto Maple Leafs   (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

The Toronto Maple Leafs will enter the 2021-22 season with many questions about their team, many of which can’t be answered until next spring.

The month of August has always been lacking in sports news and topics, especially in the NHL. MLB is typically the only major sport going and even baseball fans, and some players, begin to lose interest over the long 162 game grind. Our only recourse is to look ahead to October when the Toronto Maple Leafs kick off their 2021-22 season, a season I believe will be a defining one on the Brendan Shanahan era.

Since Shanahan became President of the  Leafs organization the team has seen all sorts of regular season success, but that is not what Leafs Nation is hungry for. It has been too long since Toronto has seen any sort of playoff success from their beloved Maple Leafs, and it all seems to be coming to a head this season.

I personally can not wait for this season to unfold, and I have been pondering what the most interesting storylines in the 2021-22 season would be. I have a few that I am going to be exploring from now until October with the first.

But today, I think we should start with the most pressing question that faces the team as they countdown the days until training camp: Who will earn ice-time in the top six to play left wing with the Leafs four superstars?