Toronto Maple Leafs: Elite Winger Depth Will Be Key to Success

The Toronto Maple Leafs have some of the best winger depth in all of hockey.

The Toronto Maple Leafs finished 4th overall and have an excellent roster, but their main strength comes from their wingers who are among the best in the NHL.

Along with Mitch Marner and William Nylander, the Leafs have Michael Bunting who finished 6th in 5v5 scoring last season.

Rounding out the top four is Alex Kerfoot, who scored the 40th most points in the NHL last season at 5v5, and is an incredible player for a team’s 4th best winger.

In addition, the Leafs have added Calle Jarnkrok and Nicolas Aube-Kabel on the right side, to go along with Pierre Engvall and about a half-dozen other options on the left side, giving them the deepest set of wingers in the NHL.

Toronto Maple Leafs Wingers Will Be Key to Success

TSN recently ranked teams by their positional depth, and according to Travis Yost from TSN, the Toronto Maple Leafs are one of three teams with the NHL’s best depth on the right wing.  (He also had them listed in “Tier 2” for left wingers).

Yost lists the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, and Toronto Maple Leafs as the three teams with elite depth at the right-wing position. He lists the combination of Mitch Marner and William Nylander as probably the best one can find in the NHL, and you can’t really argue with that.

Marner registered 35 goals and 62 assists for 97 points in 72 games last season. Nylander was not too far behind him with 34 goals and 46 assists for 80 points in 81 games. Together they combined for 69 goals and 108 assists for 177 points. I don’t know if you can find a better one/two punch in the NHL. (Stats from hockey-reference.com)

Marner gets to play with the NHL’s best goal scorer, so he will continue to have 90+ point seasons. He should hit 100 points this season if he stays healthy.

Nylander plays with Toronto Maple Leafs  captain John Tavares. Tavares announced that he no longer has any symptoms that bothered him last season. He was dealing with issues from the head injury sustained in game one of the 2021 NHL playoffs. Now that Tavares is healthy, Nylander should find even more success than last season.

It’s clear when you also factor in Bunting and Kerfoot that no one is touching the Leafs when you factor in star power and depth.

Toronto Maple Leafs Wing Depth

After Marner and Nylander, Toronto has newcomers Calle Jarnktok and Nicolas Aube-Kubel on their right-wing depth chart.

Jarnkrok recorded 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points in 66 games last season. He is also good without the puck and plays well defensively. Toronto added him more for his defensive play than his scoring abilities.

Aube-Kubel recorded 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points in 74 games. His physical presence (140 hits) makes him stand out in Toronto’s bottom six. Not bad for a guy who is only 5’11, 214 pounds, and only plays about ten minutes a game.

On the left side,  you’ve got the aforementioned Engvall who is underrated and was a very solid contributor to one of the most successful third-lines in the league last year.

If this was all the Leafs had, it would still be great, and they would still be one of the best teams in the NHL when it comes to the wing positions, but their depth forwards are above average, and they’ve got several NHL ready wingers who will be fighting for spots as well.

If we assume that Kubel has the inside track to the 4th line right-wing spot, the Leafs really only have one spot open for competition, and there are a lot of good players who will be vying to win it:

Kyle Clifford and  Wayne Simmonds will be looking to retain their roles, while Joey Anderson, and Denis Malgin are trying to show they are quality late-bloomers.  In addition you also have Nick Robertson and Alex Steeves, both of whom are probably  ready for the NHL any time now.

It’s an embarrassment of riches.  When you factor in that the Leafs have arguably the game’s best winger in Marner, two other elite wingers in Bunting and Nylander, as well as both the depth and potential of the rest of their lineup, it’s truly impressive, and it will clearly be the team’s strength going forward.