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Toronto Maple Leafs: A Look at Each Team’s Play In the Atlantic Division

By Andrew Kogut

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 13: Jack Campbell #36 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes a water break against the Montreal Canadiens during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 13, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canadiens 2-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 13: Jack Campbell #36 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes a water break against the Montreal Canadiens during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 13, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canadiens 2-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

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

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