Toronto Maple Leafs: A Look at Each Team’s Play In the Atlantic Division
Well don’t look now Leafs Nation but your Toronto Maple Leafs keep climbing the standings and sit just below the top-seeded Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division by points-percentage.
In fact, as I write this, no team in the NHL has more points than the Toronto Maple Leafs 31 (15-6-1).
Indeed, the Leafs are soaring, mostly due, perhaps, to the goaltending prowess of the absolutely adorable Jack Campbell, but they are also getting it done both on the PP and PK and haven’t had to heavily rely on their scoring to make up for lackluster defensive efforts. Moreover, the defense looks rejuvenated with the additions of Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren, who have both proved to be reliable contributors.
Toronto faces Anaheim on Sunday to conclude their four-game road trip which, thus far, has resulted in a shutout of the Islanders, a beat-down of the Kings and, most recently, a 4-1 drubbing of the Sharks on Friday. For a team that started 2-4-1 and have since gone 13-2, that is quite the dramatic turnaround. The naysayers have certainly grown quieter than the first five minutes of a period at the ACC (damn you suits and your affinity for lobster!).
But the ultimate goal is the Stanley Cup and to reach said goal the Toronto Maple Leafs have to prevail after the regular season is long gone. In the way are the rival Atlantic division opponents, featuring the likes of the dreaded Bruins; Stanley Cup champions Lightning; and the formidable Florida Panthers. No, things are not going to be easy this year.
Here is a breakdown of the Atlantic division with some random observations from an author who once thought that Luca Caputi was a viable top-six option. So take it for what it’s worth:
Ottawa: 4-13-1 (9 points)
They can’t score or stop the puck and the goaltending is leakier than a toilet at Olympic stadium. This is the worst squad since Mod. Weakest club since Joy Luck.
But seriously, these are the shoddiest Senators since those that promoted the Capitol riot. And there may yet be another riot in the capital if Ottawa continues down this path. Josh Norris leads the team with 8 goals and at least both him and Drake Batherson (7G, 16P in 14 games) look great. You gotta love the Drake! (all stats are from hockey-reference.com)
Random Observation: G Matt Murray has been placed on waivers. He has 2 more years after this one at $6.25M per with a modified no-trade clause. That contract is more egregious than the Lebron elbow (yes that suspension WAS warranted, James!)
Montreal: 5-15-2 (12 points)
O-le, O-le, O-le…O-le, O-le, Oh God!? This Habs season really has been Price-less. They are 25th or worse in every major team statistic (GF, GA, PP, PK); only one player has more than 4 goals (Anderson, with 5); prized-prospect Cole Caufield has just 2 points and Montreal still doesn’t have a legitimate 1st-liner. It’s not a pretty looking roster. Oh well, at least they made it past the first-round last year (3-1 series lead…..I’m still shell shocked)
Random Observation: The acquisition of a 3rd-line centre for 1st and 2nd draft picks continues to be a head-scratcher to me. Christian Dvorak has 3 goals and 8 points in 22 games and is roughly a $4.5M cap hit for the next 3 seasons. Time to purge the Berg-evin.
Buffalo: 8-10-2 (18 points)
Much to the delight of Bob and Amy (the entire Buffalo Sabres fan base) the team had a strong start to the season (6-2-1) that featured a 5-1 drubbing of the Lightning despite having a team nearly devoid of any household name. But now the real Sabres have shown up (Remember, Eichel-d it!). The PP (9th overall) has been good, as have Tage Thompson (10G) and Victor Olofsson (13P in 12 games), but that’s about it. Sabre that first month, Bob and Amy.
Random Observation: On pace for 20 goals and 48 points in 80 games, 29-year-old Jeff Skinner is having, by far, his best season since singing his contract extension in Buffalo. The downside: He makes $9M per year and has an additional 5 years left, all with a NMC; a lot of cake for numbers that have almost been equaled by Michael Bunting and his sub-$1M contract
Boston: 10-7 (20 points)
The record is pretty good and the team ranks 4th in GA but the offence really lacks depth and I’m not exactly swayed that the Swayman-Ullmark combo in net is good enough. Moreover, other than a SO win against Florida, Boston has only secured victories over inferior or average opponents. Their other 9 wins, are, as follows: DAL, SJ, MON, OTT, PHI, BUF(X2), DET, NJ (Phi and Fla also spanked them in their other meetings).
I predict that soon, the Bruins (no longer shoo-ins) will come to ruins.
Random Observation: While all of Marchand, Pastrnak, and Bergeron continue to produce, it’s Bergeron in particular that is a marvel to behold. At 36-years-old he has 8 goals and 16 points in 17 games and is nearly a whopping 64% in the faceoff circle. He is remarkably consistent (career 933 points in 1160 games, 57.5 faceoff %). And, to boot, he doesn’t have nearly as an annoying face/attitude/general disposition/existence as Marchand.
Detroit: 9-9-3 (21 points)
Alex Nedeljkovic has been good (.917 SV%) and Dylan Larkin is playing closer to his 2018-2019 level when he scored over 30 and racked up more than 70 points. Detroit scored a nice win over the Blues Wednesday after a disastrous road-trip (0-4). They do have some good young talent though.
Winger Lucas Raymond (8G, 20P in 21 games) and big defenseman Moritz Seider (13P in 21 games) were both early 1st-round draft picks (4th and 6th, respectively, from the 2020 and 2019 drafts) and already look to have arrived. Jakub Vrana and Tyler Bertuzzi are also high-ceiling players. Things for the Wings are on upswings.
Random Observation: Bertuzzi, sans-vaccine has been obscene. With 9 goals and 18 points in 18 games, he hasn’t been bothered by his inability to play in Canada. Drafted in the late-2nd round (58-overall), Bertuzzi has produced nicely with back-to-back 20 goal, nearly 50-point seasons and now looks primed to dwarf those numbers. Let’s just hope he doesn’t have a direct line to Marc Crawford.
Tampa Bay: 12-4-3 (27 points)
Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov may be injured but for Tampa, like James van Riemsdyk’s back-checking intensity, it’s no sweat. Stamkos (leading the team with 11 goals and 23 points) and Vasilevskiy (2.09 GAA, .926 SV%) have been the driving forces for this Lightning team but Alex Killorn (7G, 17P) has also produced nicely in a slightly increased role. Their PP is only ranked 15th so watch out when that heats up and the team is healthy. So while Gourde, Coleman and Goodrow may have Bolted it didn’t Tampa-r with their playoff aspirations.
Random Observation: I still don’t quite understand how Tampa lucked out with the Alex Barre-Boulet situation. Lost to the Kraken on waivers earlier in the season, Barre-Boulet, just 24, is a young winger/centre who has absolutely lit up the AHL (and, prior to that, the Q) to the tune of 69 goals and 136 points in 144 games. That’s a heck of a better waiver-wire pickup than, say, Adam Brooks. Crooks.
Florida: 14-3-3 (31 points)
I wasn’t sure if 20-year-old Spencer Knight was going to be up to the task for the Panthers this year but as it turns out it didn’t matter. With a 2.03 GAA and .936 SV%, Sergei Bobrovsky is tearing it up and has solidified the starting position. And sporting no less than 11 players with double-digits in points already (as well as having 8 players who each would be leading the Canadiens in goals), Florida is firing on all cylinders. They sit 1st in GF and 5th in GA but middle of the pack in both PP and PK. And only Barkov can win face-offs. Can’t really see any other flaws.
Random Observation: Welcome to the show, Aaron Ekblad. After showing flashes of his potential in his first six years, the 1st overall pick looks to finally be the top-pairing stud he was supposed to be. He had a nice season last year (11 goals, 22 points in 35 games) but this season Ekblad is on pace for 24 goals and 68 points in 80 games and is averaging over 25 minutes per game. He’s big, young, elite and a nice value at $7.5M for the next 3 years.
Random Observation 2: No pun or alliteration or anything in that entire write-up? I guess I’m no bite but all bark-ov (nailed it!)
Toronto Maple Leafs: 15-6-1 (31 points)
Top-ten in GA, PP and PK and 12th in GF (a stat where they are quickly rising up the ranks); could it be that things are finally coming together in Leaf-land??? I’ll tell you what I told my friend in 1999 when he wanted to buy a Lonny Bohonos jersey: “Just wait for a bit.”
Seriously, after last year when it looked like everything was going to go the Toronto Maple Leafs way and then, well, you know what happened, I cannot truly allow myself to get sucked in again until we see some of this when it matters.
But kudos to the team for their strong all-around play so far. They’ve scored big wins against TB, Boston, NYR, Vegas, Calgary and Nashville, to name just a few, and young defenders Sandin and Liljegren have been great. I’ve also been especially impressed by Rielly’s, Tavares’ and Nylander’s play this season. Although it does help when you have a goaltender playing how Campbell (1.68 GAA, .943 SV%, 3SO) is playing. He’s been just soup-er!
Random Observation: The emergence of the Toronto Maple Leafs 3rd-line is great to see and is essential to the team’s future success. Kase has been flying all year and had started to see the fruits of his efforts (he’s up to 5 goals, or, tied for the lead in Montreal) before missing Friday night’s game in San Jose. Simmonds (who has also looked great this year) took his spot on the 3rd-line and promptly scored.
dark. Next. The Leafs Player Most Primed for a Breakout
Kampf’s 3 goals and 7 points aren’t much to write home about but he’s playing excellent defense and starting an absurd 90% of the time in the D-zone. They just need a helping Shana-hand on the left side; 2 goals from Engvall + 0 from Ritchie = Du-bus out of town