Toronto Maple Leafs: Top 4 Breakout Candidates for 2021-22
After another disappointing finish, the Toronto Maple Leafs need to have a few players have breakout seasons in order to compete for a Stanley Cup.
When it comes to breakout performances, we don’t exactly mean that a player needs to score 50 goals to qualify. Instead, they need to outperform their typical season and be someone who surprises the critics.
Last year’s example was Jason Spezza.
The 37-year-old scored 10 goals and registered 30 points in a shortened 56-game campaign and was one of the most reliable forwards. Sure, Spezza had scored nine goals in a similar timeframe with the Leafs in the previous season, but based on his age, nobody expected that sort of output. (All stats hockeydb.com).
With little support from the bottom-six, Spezza was one of the few bright spots, continuing to be productive, despite playing with players like Wayne Simmonds and Joe Thornton on a nightly basis.
Although he was already one of the best players in the NHL, you could also say that Auston Matthews had a breakout season last year. Not only did he win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, but he was also nominated for a Hart Trophy for the first time in his career.
Matthews showed the entire hockey community that he’s now clearly the best goal-scorer in the league and that he should be considered as an MVP candidate for the next decade.
Toronto has a lot of newcomers this year, but there could be a few friendly faces ready to make that next leap as the Leafs look to redeem themselves from that devastating series loss to the Montreal Canadiens last year.
Here are four potential players that could fused for a breakout campaign.
No. 1: Mitch Marner
You’re probably wondering to yourself; “How did Mitch Marner make this list? He’s led the Leafs in scoring, three out of the last four seasons and finished fourth in NHL points last year!”
That’s all correct, but hear me out.
Marner is an exceptional talent that gets very little respect from the Leafs fanbase. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t score like Matthews, makes a ton of money or because his dad speaks out when he shouldn’t, but he’s arguably one of the top-five most skilled players in the NHL.
Marner puts up points at an exceptional pace and by playing beside Matthews for another season, that’ll will only continue, but at a better rate. Last year was the first real season that these two guys played together and they showed how dangerous they could be.
With one more year of offseason training to get stronger and another year of chemistry, Marner is going to lead in the NHL in scoring, for a player not named Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl.
In a real 82-game season, expect Marner to score more than 100 points for the first time in his career with a stat-line of 30 goals and 80 assists.
Throughout the offseason, Marner has seen nothing but hate-mail, so when the regular season starts, he’s going to be coming out guns-blazing and not only lead the Leafs in scoring, but be close to the league lead.
No. 2: Michael Bunting
The Scarborough, ON native is getting the biggest opportunity of his young career, as he’ll more than likely be playing alongside a combination of either Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner or William Nylander-John Tavares.
By playing alongside such skilled players, Bunting will shine and will score 20-plus goals for the Leafs.
In 26 career games, Bunting has 11 goals. He has a very high-shooting percentage in those games that is not sustainable in an 82-game regular season, but he’s shown that he can score at every level he’s played. Bunting played at a 20-goal per season pace in the AHL and that will continue with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Playing back in your hometown is a tough challenge for some players, but Bunting will seize this opportunity.
After his first year, Kyle Dubas is going to look like a genius that he secured Bunting on a two-year deal worth only $900 AAV and he’ll be one of the best bright spots on the roster.
No. 3: Nick Ritchie
Nick Ritchie should play beside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and should not find his way to the third line. In my opinion, he’s the perfect Zach Hyman replacement and you’ll forget the name Hyman before the season is over, because of Ritchie.
Similarly to Bunting, Ritchie is also a hometown kid and is also 25-years-old. The only difference is that Ritchie has 350 games of NHL experience, compared to Bunting’s 26 games.
Ritchie hasn’t been a huge goal-scorer over his career, but he’s been consistent. Averaging double-digit goals per season, Ritchie brings some goal-scoring ability, but also a toughness that this team is lacking.
If he’s paired beside Matthews and Marner, Ritchie has more enough skill to keep up with those guys but can also be the puck-retrieval player that Hyman was. That line needs an energizer bunny who can win puck battles and be physical, so with that responsibility, will come some dirty goals.
Ritchie has never scored 20 goals in a season, but if he’s paired beside the Leafs best duo, expect him to have a similar type of season that Hyman’s had in the past, scoring 20 goals and contributing 40-50 points.
No. 4: William Nylander
Another player that fans love to bash, for no good reason, is William Nylander. I understand that fans were unhappy with his contract negotiations and season two years ago, but that should be old news.
His contract is actually very reasonable for his production and he’s one of the better wingers in the NHL. Maybe it’s his good looks and blonde hair that flaps in the wind when he skates, but Nylander deserves much more love than what he gets.
During the 2019-20 campaign, Nylander scored 31 goals and was on-pace to score 27 goals in an 82-game season last year.
30 goals is a great season for anyone in the league, but expect that number to rise even more this year. As Nylander enters his seventh NHL season and starts to hit the prime of his career, he’s going to score 40 goals this year and shock everyone.
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Nylander hasn’t played a true 82-game season in four years so we haven’t seen what he can do in a real campaign. As a result, Nylander is going to be a huge breakout star for the Toronto Maple Leafs and join Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner at the NHL All-Star game, as he competes with Matthews for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.