Toronto Maple Leafs: 2021-22 Atlantic Division Preview

Well we are just one week away from things returning to normal for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be back playing at the Air Canada Centre in front of actual fans and competing in the Atlantic Division again after the rigors of a makeshift 2020-2021 season are no more.

That means no more North Division and no more facing only Canadian teams. Now we get to welcome players and teams from outside of the great white north, many of whom will offer greater competition and provide a real benchmark for the level of play required to be a true Cup contender…wait, maybe this isn’t such a good thing after all.

The Leafs will be playing the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins on a regular basis as division rivals, not to mention the likes of the always pesky Ottawa Senators and the odds-defying Montreal Canadiens squad. (All stats unless noted hockeydb.com).

But fear not fellow Leafs fans, for I have analyzed these teams on a superficial, if not juvenile, level and have prepared a division preview that explores the flaws and weaknesses of each team so as to momentarily instill a sense hope and/or pride in our team that so often crushes such feelings.

Here is the preview of the Toronto Maple Leafs Atlantic division for the 2021-2022 NHL season along with some roster names that I found particularly amusing:

Boston Bruins

The Bruins have lost consecutive 2nd round playoff series’ (oh, for a Leaf fan to dream) and enter the season with potential holes at the goaltending and centre positions.

Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak are gone and replaced by Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, respectively. Ullmark is good and he’s playing on a much better team and defense than in Buffalo but he’s also somewhat unproven, never having played 40 games in a single season, and is going to see a lot of action this season).

Swayman, only 22, has a career total of ten NHL and nine AHL games under his belt.

On the centre front, David Krejci Czech-ed out, leaving Charlie Coyle, Erik Haula, Tomas Nosek and 22-year-old Jack Studnicka (a player I totally knew of before writing this article) as the centres vying for the #2-4 spots, after Patrice Bergeron. Coyle is coming off of multiple surgeries and Bergeron, at 36, isn’t getting any younger.

Unless Boston meets up with Toronto in the first-round, in which case they would surely still win in seven games, I don’t see any post-season success for this Bruins squad this year.

Boston’s best fake NHL name: Josiah Didier. But he’s got nothing on Jorgus Mandervogt (any takers?).

Detroit Red Wings

Can anyone name the Red Wings’ top scorer for the 2020-2021 season?

Take as much time as you like. Nope, it’s not Dylan Larkin and his 9 goals and 23 points in 44 games.

Adam Erne (another player I totally knew existed) you say? Well he was actually only three points behind Larkin but nope, it’s not him. Here, I’ll give you the top scorer’s first name: Filip.

Is it 2018 6th overall pick, Filip Zadina? Good guess, but he didn’t crack the 20-point barrier. Any idea yet? Well the answer is none other than 23-year-old defenseman Filip Hronek, with 2 goals and 26 points in 56 games.  Don’t get me wrong, Hronek is a nice player and all but yea, Detroit just isn’t very good.

An offense that was 30th in goals for and 30th in PP% last year isn’t much better this year. Full, healthy years from Jakub Vrana and Tyler Bertuzzi would certainly help and the goaltending situation looks pretty good (Nedeljkovic for essentially a 3rd round pick is a steal) but the talent really drops off after the aforementioned players.

Detroit’s best fake NHL name: As I perused Detroit’s roster I began debating between Pius Suter and Taro Hirose before being absolutely bowled over by what is easily the best name in the NHL:  T-Bone Codd. T-Bone! Beat that, Costanza.

Florida Panthers

The Panthers finished 2nd in the Central division with a 37-14-5 record, top-ten overall in both goals for and against, had eight players with goals in the double-digits, and ten with 20 or more points. Still, they bowed out in six games in the first-round of the playoffs last year. What a bunch of pathetic losers!

But in all seriousness, it’s hard to really find any negatives for Florida here, especially when in relation to the Leafs (snatching up Leafs 3rd-rounder Carter Verhaeghe and his 18 goals and 36 points in 43 games last year, getting usable minutes out of Mason Marchment, being turned down on their MacKenzie Weegar offer for Dermott and Johnsson) so I will just attack their goaltending:

1st-rounder Spencer Knight only turned 20 this April and is expected to take over from the departing Chris Driedger, who was excellent for the Panthers last year.

Sure, Sergei Bobrovsky is still there but he hasn’t exactly excelled since being signed to that lucrative free-agent deal (81 games played, 3.10 GAA, .902 SV%, -16.6 GSAA) and, at 33-years-old, probably isn’t going to get much better. If Knight falters this team could be in trouble.

Furthermore, they better hope Sam Bennett doesn’t revert to Calgary Flames Sam Bennett production as he’s penciled in to be their #2 centre with only Joe Thornton and Noel Acciari lingering nearby in the depth department.  Okay so I did manage to find a few negatives.

Florida’s best fake NHL name: Gustav Forsling. Is that a hockey player or forgotten currency from early 17th-century Sweden?

Montreal Canadiens

Montreal was middle of the pack or worse in pretty much every statistical category last year and just snuck into the playoffs by virtue of a covid-plagued season that re-aligned divisions and, consequently, playoff seeding.

Facing off against the regular-season juggernaut that is the Toronto Maple Leafs was such a mismatched affair that I neglected to tune in for the playoffs and automatically assume that Montreal lost in the first-round and are entering the season with obscenely low expectations (did anyone buy that??).

This offseason saw the departures of 4th and 5th leading scorers Tomas Tatar and Phillip Danault as well as 2018 3rd overall pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi. These three were effectively replaced by Mike Hoffman and Christian Dvorak. Hoffman should provide a nice offensive boost and help the power-play but it’s still a team full of 2nd and 3rd liners with an injured starting goalie and no Shea Weber for the entire season.

And while Montreal deserves credit for their continued drafting prowess I can’t say I’m a fan of the Kotkaniemi for Dvorak “swap” that ultimately cost Montreal 1st and 2nd-round picks. Kotkaniemi’s output as an 18-year-old in 2018-2019 with limited ice-time almost rivals Dvorak’s highest output during his five years in Arizona; he is a big kid with immense skill and he should light it up in Carolina.

Montreal’s best fake NHL name: Gianni Fairbrother.

Ottawa Senators

You know, with a record of 23-28-5, the Sens weren’t really that awful last season.

They endured horrendous goaltending from Matt Murray (.893 SV%) and Marcus Hogberg (.876), who, combined, started for 35 of the team’s 56 games. With league-average goaltending, who knows, maybe Ottawa sneaks into the postseason instead of Montreal and a non-concussed John Tavares leads Toronto into the fabled final-eight!

Like Montreal (and then some), the Sens have continually found useful players in the draft and have a collection of good young talent already producing in the lineup.

Brady Tkachuk is an absolute force and Joshua Norris, Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson, all 23 and under, continue to impress with their mix of size, strength and skill. This is going to be a really tough team to play against soon but right now that defense is pretty shoddy, Matt Murray is still the starter and Tkachuk, holding out for a new deal, may miss the start of the season (maybe owner Eguene Melnyk can donate some of his yacht money to seal the deal?).

And I’m not supposed to be pointing out positives anyway, so take that, Angus Crookshank!

Ottawa’s best fake NHL name: Crookshank almost made the cut, as did Dillon Heatherington, Zachary Magwood and Kole Sherwood, but the winner here is Chandler Romeo. Could he BE any more charming?

Tampa Bay Lightning

After being swept by Columbus in the opening round of the 2018-2019 playoffs, Tampa Bay has won back-to-back Stanley Cups, providing a glimmer of hope to Leaf fans everywhere who see adversity as a precursor to greatness. Keep in mind, however, that Tampa already had a Stanley Cup Final and two Conference Finals to their name in three of the four preceding seasons prior to 2018.

Nevertheless, Tampa looks to be slightly inferior this season, what with the losses of Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman, Tyler Johnson and Barclay Goodrow (their 4th, 7th, 10th and 11th leading scorers).  Corey Perry and Zach Bogosian are the only notable additions to the roster.

The right side is also pretty bare after Nikita Kucherov…but what else can I pick apart here? This Lightning team played the entire 2020-2021 season without Kucherov and 18 games without Steven Stamkos and still finished 36-17-3 and 8th overall in goals for; this is the team to beat.

Stupid Florida and their stupid no income tax.

Tampa’s best fake NHL name: Amir Miftakhov. A mere one team left. Would you be miffed if left em off? (That almost worked).

Toronto Maple Leafs

Ah, Toronto. Like a horrible ex that one just cannot seem to shake. Like a bad movie that you just can’t stop watching until it’s finished.  Such is a life of a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.

In all honesty I think this is quite a good team that has a ton of young, quality depth with solid goaltending and a strong defense. There are some holes to fill on the wings, however, with Zach Hyman leaving for Edmonton, and all the players attempting to replace him having come directly from the bargain bin.  One might also make the case that most, if not all, of Bunting, Ritchie, Kase, Mikheyev and Simmonds may only be nothing more than quality 4th-line producers right now.

Moreover, after Tavares the quality of the centre position is quite limited with Kampf, Engvall and Spezza (who should only be taking draws at centre, not playing the position) all best suited for the 4th line too.

Jake Muzzin is another year older and won’t be able to carry Justin Holl for much longer and one of Dermott or Sandin will be playing their off-side on the 3rd pairing. Oh and this team has lost in the first/qualifying round in five straight years. Maybe I wasn’t being that dramatic after all.

Toronto’s best fake NHL name: Noel Hoefenmayer. How fitting that the most disappointing of all these names is on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto Maple Leafs and the upcoming season

The Leafs open their season against the Montreal Canadiens next Wednesday, as the 2021-2022 NHL season gets underway. I see the Atlantic race being, in this order.

Tampa, Toronto, Florida, Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Detroit, Buffalo. Hopefully the Leafs can win their second straight division title, but I just can’t see it happening at this point.