Are the Toronto Maple Leafs a lock to make the Playoffs next season?
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be returning to the Atlantic division this season, where there is about a 100% chance they make the playoffs.
There is no scenario in which the Leafs don’t make the playoffs, because they have one of the NHL’s best rosters, with stars and depth at every position. People may be down on them because they didn’t win against Montreal, but that doesn’t change the fact that they will enter next season as one of the most likely teams to win the Stanley Cup.
Some might call me bold for insisting such a thing, but hear me out.
Toronto Maple Leafs Are a Playoff Lock
The Leafs only significant loss of the offseason? Zach Hyman on a terrible contract that will end up biting the Oilers in the rear. Bogosian was solid last year, but I think the youth on the back end, hello Rasmus Sandin, will improve with Bogo gone.
Frederik Anderson’s departure hurts the heart more than the actual team. He played roughly half the schedule last year and posted a sub-.900 save percentage. Petr Mrazek by all accounts figures to be at the very least on par with Freddy’s performance, and last season that wouldn’t be asking for very much. Jack Campbell is under contract for one more season and is coming off the best season of his career.
Back to Hyman.
33 points is not much to replace for first line production. Hyman’s impact was felt more while he was doing the dirty work that his line-mates could sometimes slack on. However, we are dealing with a much more mature Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. I’m confident that whoever ends up in the first line left wing spot will work. Players of Matthews and Marner’s stature almost always have the ability to turn whoever they play with into a solid first liner.
If this is the case – and there is no reason to think that it isn’t – then Hyman’s departure won’t be as much of a big deal as it seems right now.
The Leafs will be back in the Atlantic, where Tampa and Boston will be waiting. We know the Leafs can play with any team in the league. A playoff spot coming out of the Atlantic is a given. It’s what comes after the regular season that has all of us worried.