3 Ways to Turn the Toronto Maple Leafs into Real Cup Contenders

Toronto Maple Leafs Need the Right Kind of Grit

One problem with the Toronto Maple Leafs is that when they attempted to transform from their run-and-gun reputation into a puck-possession powerhouse is that they lost their identity.

During this transition they noticeably tried to add more grit to their roster.  They brought in, among others, Wayne Simmonds, Zach Bogosian, Nick Foligno, and Nick Ritchie.

The problem here is that these are role players who don’t really have any impact on the game.

Now, the problem with the NHL is that physical  players who can also legitimately warrant top-of-the-lineup ice-time are basically unicorns.  Aaron Ekblad, Gabriel Landeskog, Matthew Tkachuk and his brother Brady, Brad Marchand etc.   These are extremely rare players.

The L:eafs will only ever be superficially physical until they have a core player who can take on such a  role.

The salary cap makes doing this difficult, but the fact is, the Leafs can use some combo of Kerfoot, Holl, Ritchie and maybe even Muzzin or Brodie to clear the space to make this happen.  They’ve then got to use a top prospect and some draft picks and get it done.

Michael Bunting is more of a sparkplug, and Nick Ritchie isn’t a top-six player, but they’ve obviously got the right idea here.  I think a top-six player with destructive qualities is a must, and a defenseman who can play in the top four and actually knock guys out of the crease is as well.

Develop a Low Pick into a Star

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written this same exact thing, but I’ll keep doing it until it happens: The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t developed a player they drafted after the first round into a star player since Tomas Kaberle in the late nineties.

Where would the Penguins have been without Letang, LA  without Quick, Chicago without Keith, Vancouver without Edler, Boston without Bergeron, Tampa without Point…..you get the picture.

You can only draft star players at the top of the draft for so long until you get too good. The Leafs got good so quickly that after they drafted Matthews they picked low five years in a row.   As of yet, none of their low picks are stars.

It’s great that maybe Sandin will be a star, but he is a first rounder. The Leafs desperately need someone from below the first round who isn’t expected to be a star to turn into a franchise quality player.

Almost every team I can find that was one of the NHL’s best for an extended run of seasons in the salary cap era has found the NHL equivalent of a wallet on the street chalk full of cash.

Obviously you can’t just make this happen, but right now the Leafs don’t even have a single prospect on their roster that fits these qualifications.  I’m not saying Mikahail Abramov or SDA are ready for the NHL, but who says they aren’t?  You can’t force it, but you can put more emphasis on finding a diamond in the rough.

Relentless Offense

Though I by no means claim to be even well-versed on the topic, one thing I’ve always enjoyed reading about hockey strategy.

Strategy is one of the most interesting things about any game, and sometimes I think that the Toronto Maple Leafs strategy is all wrong for their team.  The Leafs believe in puck possession over everything else, and this is a smart strategy because puck-possession is the common denominator for winning hockey games.   Over time, the team that has the puck the most is the most likely team to win.

The Leafs know this and they play in a way that leads to puck possession – short  passes to get up the ice, and a tendency to hold the puck and try for a better chance, rather than to just take any shot and hope for the best.

I think this is a generally sound strategy, but that it underuses the Leafs best feature, which is their offensive talent. Most teams don’t have a version of Marner, Nylander, Matthews and Tavares.

Without exception, everyone on the Leafs blue-line is an above-average puck mover for their role and lineup spot.  The forwards feature four superstars, and they have the option of using Ondrej Kase, Josh Ho-Sang and Nick Robertson to increase the offense.

With this group of players, the Leafs should be able to skate other teams into the ground with their relentless offense.  Instead, they play a fairly safe game that almost never gets them breakaways or odd-man rushes.

Given the makeup of their team, I believe this is a strategic mistake.  I don’t think they should abandon their puck-possession bread and butter, but I do think that they should alter it a bit to account for their shooting talent.

Even on the power-play, I see them consistently waste chances for an odd-man rush in order to patiently set up their system.  Whenever the PK has a player deep, the Leafs tend to forgo  a long pass to create an odd-man situation in favor of setting up patiently.  (At least, this is my observation, and it is entirely possible this is confirmation bias and that the stats wouldn’t back this up, though I would they would).

I do think the Leafs, as made up today, are one of the NHL’s best teams.  But if they want to make up the gap between them and the Lightning and Avalanche, they should play to their strengths, as well as focus on developing a star prospect and acquiring some non-superficial physicality.

Also, that and immediately promote Josh Ho-Sang to the NHL.