This Version of the Toronto Maple Leafs Can Achieve Greatness
This year’s Toronto Maple Leafs team has the chance to achieve greatness. For some players, it could be the best of their career. The team as a whole has proven that they can beat some of the other top teams in the NHL.
Of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs are not going to win every game and they will lose some ugly ones. Every team goes through that and it’s not that big of a deal when you look at the season as a whole. The Leafs have won 20 of their last 26 games.
Winning is great and it always sucks to lose, but when a team wins as often as Toronto does, each loss hurts just a little bit more. The good news is, Toronto hasn’t made losing a habit this season. They have been able to shrug off loses and bounce back the next game.
This team has an unbelievable amount of talent and I know many fans who don’t care about a player’s regular season achievements if they don’t end up winning a playoff round. To that I say, regular season stats do matter, and we should enjoy what these players do.
There are currently seven players on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster who are on pace for an amazing season. I think we should be able to sit back and watch these amazing achievements unfold before our very eyes.
Toronto Maple Leafs Players On Pace For Great Seasons
The following is a complete breakdown of seven Toronto players that are on pace for great seasons. Some of the names on this list are to be expected, but others might surprise you.
Auston Matthews
Auston Matthews is currently on pace to finish this season with 94 points. This would eclipse his current career best of 80 points. Matthews registered 80 points in 70 games during the 2019-20 season. The same season that was cut short due to the pandemic. It cost Matthews the chance to reach 50 goals in a season as he finished with 47 goals.
William Nylander
William Nylander is having the best season of his career, so it is no surprise that he is on this list. He is currently on pace to finish the season with 86 points. Nylander is not only on pace to eclipse his previous season best, but he is on pace to shatter it. His career best is currently the back-to-back 61 points he recorded in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.
John Tavares
John Tavares has achieved some good season totals in his career of 13 seasons. His career best for points in a season was the 88 points he scored in his first season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Due to two shortened seasons caused by the pandemic, Tavares hasn’t come close to reaching that points total again. That is, until this season which has him on pace to finish with 85 points. Would be great to see a player that some are already calling washed up, score 80+ points and prove them all wrong.
Morgan Rielly
Morgan Rielly is having a great bounce back season. He is currently on pace to finish the season with 69 points. Rielly finished the 2018-19 season with 72 points in 82 games. He fell to just 27 points in 47 games the following season. He hasn’t played to same level as that 72 points season until now. Anything over 60 points should be viewed as a huge success for Toronto’s top defenseman.
Alexander Kerfoot
Alexander Kerfoot seems to have finally found his groove with the Maple Leafs. He is on pace to finish the season with 59 points. His career best is the 43 points he recorded during the 2017-18 season as a rookie. Kerfoot has yet to come close to 40 points since joining the Maple Leafs, so 50-60 points this season would be amazing.
Alex Kerfoot is having an outstanding year. Now on a 55-point pace with a team-best GF%. The Leafs have outscored the opposition 30-14 at 5-on-5 with Kerfoot for a 68% share (or seventh in the NHL among players with 400+ minutes).
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) January 9, 2022
Michael Bunting
Michael Bunting is having himself a great first season in Toronto. He is provided the team with the style of play they knew they were losing when Zach Hyman signed with Edmonton. Bunting is on pace to finish this season with 49 points. His previous best was the 13 points he finished with last season in just 21 games. It is safe to say that he has been a pleasant surprise for Toronto fans this season.
Jack Campbell
Jack Campbell currently has 17 wins on the season with 35-40 more starts coming this season. He led the NHL in all major statistical categories for goalies in the calendar year of 2021.
He has a good chance of passing both Andrew Raycroft and Ed Belfour for the franchise record in wins in a season. The current record is 37 wins, and Campbell is on pace to win more than 40 games.
If he is able to do it, the record would be coming to one the nicest and most humble players in the game. He would also probably win the Vezina if the season was over today, and he’s got a very good shot at being the first Leafs goalie to win it in the modern era.
Final Thoughts
I truly hope that all these players can achieve the point totals that they are on pace for. It is great to see Tavares still playing at an elite level. I also like that Rielly is back to playing at an elite level also. Bunting has been a great addition to the team and Kerfoot is really in a groove now. I would love to see Matthews and Nylander finish high up in the standings for points.
Next. 5 Best Case Scenarios for the Leafs. dark
Last, but not least, I really hope Campbell passes the 37 wins mark and sets a new franchise record. It couldn’t happen to a nicer person.