2021-22 Toronto Maple Leafs Player Grades for Forwards

The Toronto Maple Leafs ultimately had a great season last year.

Though we wish they’d have gone further in the playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs set franchise records for wins and points in 2022, and despite the pressure, they had a very good series against Tampa in the first round.

The majority of the Leafs forwards had a successful 2021-22 season. Many of them registered new personal best in many different stats.

Fans witnessed Auston Matthews score 60 goals, and William Nylander reach 80 points. Mitch Marner went on a crazy post-Christmas run, and players like Mikheyev and Kerfoot achieved career highs in goals or points.

Lesser-known players made an impact too. David Kampf proved to be a valuable penalty killer, and Ondrej Kase had a wonderful bounce-back season. The   Leafs were blessed with a talented forward group last season.

Toronto’s top-six forward group is the best in the NHL. It was last season and looks to be again this season. When a team has a top-six where all six record more than 50 points, you know you have something special.

Last week we recapped the 2021-22 season by grading all the defensemen and goalies. Here now is a look at how each of the Leafs forwards did last season, and where they ended up on the grading scale.

Grading Toronto Maple Leafs Forwards

Colin Blackwell

Colin Blackwell was acquired from the Seattle Kraken along with Giordano at the trade deadline.

That trade worked out spectacularly, but more so because of the rejuvenated Mark Giordano (who immediately made a big difference). Blackwell? He wasn’t bad, but he didn’t exactly make much of an impact either.

He only recorded three points in 19 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs. His defensive play was his best asset for Toronto. His possession numbers could have been better, but he gave Toronto a complete effort.

Unfortunately, no forward on the Leafs who played as much as Blackwell did last year put up worse numbers. His possession numbers were the worst on the team, and only Kyle Clifford had worse expected goals.

Blackwell’s  defensive play was sub-par in the playoffs.  Overall, he was not successful in his stint with the Leafs and that is why he now plays with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Michael Bunting

Michael Bunting had an incredible 2021-22 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He went from an unknown to a fan favorite rather quickly. Recording 23 goals and 40 assists for 63 points in 79 games will do that to a player.

What is more impressive is that Bunting did all that without regular powerplay time. Bunting had 58 5v5 points, sixth in the NHL, tied with Connor McDavid, in one less game.

Yes, a lot of his success was due to playing with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.  But Zach Hyman had this role for a long time and was never this good.

Bunting had one of the best 5v5 seasons that an NHL player has had since advanced stats were tracked.

Bunting was given the opportunity of a lifetime by being placed on the first line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. He took advantage of the opportunity and did not disappoint. Not every player who plays with elite players explodes like this, so he does deserve credit.  (Stats from naturalstattrick.com and hockey-reference.com)

Bunting’s physicality and ability to win puck battles made him the perfect replacement for Zach Hyman.  He is a local kid enjoying the chance to play for his hometown team. His level of play and intensity were the same in the playoffs as in the regular season.

It’s hard to know what the Leafs will get out of Bunting going forward, but no player returned more value last year per dollar than he did.

Kyle Clifford

Kyle Clifford did not provide the Toronto Maple Leafs with much last season.

He only managed to play in 23 games and averaged 8:35 minutes of ice time. Management brought him back for his physical presence, and although he provided that, he did not do much else.

Clifford only recorded three points along with 48 hits and 31 minutes in penalties.

Clifford’s appearance in the 2022 NHL playoffs lasted 49 seconds. He received a five-minute major and game misconduct for his late hit from behind on Ross Colton in the first period of Game 1. Toronto managed to kill off the penalty and win the game, but Clifford got scratched for the rest of the series.

Keefe was right to scratch Clifford because as a veteran, he should know better.  Though he is still under contract, it looks as if Clifford’s time with the Leafs will soon be coming to an end.

David Kampf

David Kampf started his season in Toronto as a bit of an unknown.

Coming in from Chicago, one of the worst teams at the time, it was impossible to look at statistics and tell if the Leafs belief in him was justified.

However, Kampf made believers out of everyone. Tasked with the hardest minutes in the NHL, Kampf started the highest portion of his shifts in the defensive zone, and played against the toughest competition.

With a dedicated defensive line, the Leafs were able to get their top line away from the opponent’s top line, and they subsequently put up a 31-8-2 record at home.

The Toronto Maple Leafs coaching staff became very comfortable playing Kampf while short-handed or in close games when the team needed a spark.

Kampf averaged 15:16 of ice time during the regular season and 17:27 during the playoffs. While playing at even strength in a tied game during the playoffs, Toronto had possession of the puck 66% of the time when Kampf was on the ice.

Kampf had an excellent season and deserves some credit for Matthews and Marner’s insane scoring totals.  At 5v5, despite starting most of his shifts against top players in his own zone, Kampf won his minutes, with the Leafs scoring 38 goals and allowing 37, which was actually slightly unlucky compared to his 51% xgoals rating.

Ondrej Kase

Ondrej Kase entered the 2021-22 season in Toronto with a big question mark surrounding him. Everyone wanted to know if he could stay healthy and be a good depth signing.

He was a good depth signing, but he did not stay healthy.  Kase is just too fragile for the way he plays.  It’s unfortunate, because he could be a very good top-six forward if he could play a full season.

55% Expected Goals and a scoring rate of 1.89 points per 60 minutes of 5v5 icetime are extremely strong numbers (its second line scoring).

Kase only played in 50 games registering 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points. He spent a bit of time playing in Toronto’s top-six but played on the third line with Kampf regularly. His ability to win puck battles was a bonus, as he had 28 takeaways compared to 16 giveaways. Kase averaged 13:59 of ice time during the regular season.

The fact that he scored at such a rate, while playing most of his minutes with a dedicated defensive line is very impressive. It’s too bad the Leafs couldn’t bring him back for another year.

Kase did manage to stay healthy enough to play in all seven playoff games against Tampa. He averaged 10:22 ice time and recorded three assists. Toronto was lucky to get 50 regular season games and seven playoff games from Kase. He had only played a combined 15 games the previous two seasons.

His grade is so low owing to his inability to stay healthy.

Alex Kerfoot

Alex Kerfoot had his best NHL regular season last year.

He recorded 13 goals and 38 assists for 51 points in 82 games. Most of those points were scored at 5v5 where he actually outscored John Tavares and William Nylander while finishing fourth on the Toronto Maple Leafs in 5v5 scoring.

Th  Leafs rewarded his hard work by playing him on the team’s second line, where he was the most common winger for Tavares and Nylander. Playing on a line with the team captain John Tavares has its advantages. For Kerfoot, the 38 assists, 51 points, and 82 games played were all career highs. He also seemed to have more of an edge last season, with 75 hits and 65 blocked shots.

Kerfoot recorded two points in the seven playoff games against Tampa while having an average of 15:27 ice time.  Unfortunately, all anyone remembers is  a certain giveway that clouds Kerfoot’s otherwise solid season.

He is very good defensively, and is coming off a season where he scored at a first-line rate  (2.44 P/60).  Kerfoot is always associated with the trading of a former fan-favorite, so he doesn’t really get the credit he deserves.

Mitch Marner

Mitch Marner recorded 35 goals and 62 assists for 97 points in 72 games last season. His best season to date, and it could have been even better.

Had he played the first half of the season the way he played the second half, he likely would have been in NHL’s top three in points. He had 45 points in his first 40 games, followed by 52 points in his next 32 games. His scoring pace in the second half would have resulted in 117 points had he been on that pace for all 72 games he played.

After returning from injury in mid January, Marner scored beyond a 50 goal pace that would see him beat Connor McDavid’s career high in points had he have maintained it all year.  He was something close to the NHL’s MVP after January, leading the NHL in points and scoring the third most goals, and if he keeps it up at that level the Leafs are going to be hard to stop.

Marner got used a lot on the Toronto Maple Leafs penalty kill. He had a 54.5% faceoff win percentage while short-handed and scored three short-handed goals. Marner recorded 72 takeaways last season, with 14 coming while playing short-handed.

After years of being criticized for performing in the playoffs, Marner registered eight points in seven games against the Lightning. He did everything he could to help Toronto win, including one of the most dominating games of his career in game seven, which was only spoiled by one of the NHL’s best goalies of all-time having one of his best games.

Ultimately he finished 4th in 5v5 scoring, while providing elite defense and being the best player in the NHL for half a season. A future Hart Trophy is not out of the question.

Auston Matthews

Auston Matthews won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s best player last season.  He also won the Ted Lindsay award. 

He scored 50 goals in 50 games, while having possibly the best season anyone has had since the mid-90s when Mario Lemieux 69 goals in 70 games.

For the second consecutive season, Auston Matthews led the NHL in goals.

He recorded 60 goals and 46 assists for 106 points in 73 games last season. The 60 goals allowed him to win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the second time in two years.

On top of all that, Matthews became a better two-way player last season. He recorded 92 takeaways compared to 48 giveaways.  He is a Selke Trophy candidate who is among the best defensive players in the NHL.

That obviously makes him the NHL’s best two-way player.

Like Marner, Matthews has received criticism for not providing enough offense in the playoffs.  But let’s be realistic: against Montreal he couldn’t shoot the puck, and four goals in seven games against Andre Vasilevkiy is something beyond reproach.

In last season’s seven-game first-round series against Tampa, Matthews recorded four goals and five assists for nine points in seven games.  The Toronto Maple Leafs scored 64% of the goals while he was on the ice, and he finished a series against a team that went to the Finals three years in a row with a 62% Expected Goals rating.

Matthews did everything he could to help the Leafs advance, the loss is not on him at all.  If there was a higher grade, we’d give it to him.

Ilya Mikheyev

Ilya Mikheyev only played 53 games last season but had his most productive season.

He recorded 21 goals and 11 assists for 32 points. Mikheyev averaged 15:16 of ice time and was a regular on Toronto’s penalty kill.

The 27-year-old Russian scored four short-handed goals last season. I think Mikheyev has another level he can get to, but he didn’t find it in Toronto.

Mikheyev registered four points in the 2022 NHL playoffs. In the previous 12 playoff games he took part in, Mikheyev registered zero points.

He adapted to the physicality of the playoffs and posted 18 hits. The series against Tampa was his most productive playoff performance. His ice time increased slightly from the regular season up to 16:46.

Mikheyev spent the most minutes last year playing along side David Kampf and Pierre Engvall. Whenever he was on the ice with Kampf, the Leafs had a 57% expected goals rating. This line was so effective playing against incredibly tough competition that a fair bit of the Leafs success last year should be credited to them.

For example, as previously mentioned, at home, where the Leafs could use the Kampf line to get the Matthews line away from the other team’s top line, the Leafs won close to 80% of the available points.

Only missing 30 games prevents an A grade.

William Nylander

William Nylander recorded 34 goals and 46 assists for 80 points in 81 games.

He reached new career highs in goals, assists, and points last season. While averaging 18:16 of ice time, Nylander was an offensive threat every time he was on the ice.

54% Puck Possession, 52% of the shots, 56% Expected Goals, 56% of the scoring chances.

Full stop, Nylander is an elite player.  There aren’t too many second liners as good as he is, and the crazy thing is that he might still get even better.  The Leafs got horrid goaltending whenever their second line was on the ice last year, and a correction to the norm will really help the perception of this line’s performance.

Nylander did have a successful 2022 playoffs with three goals and four assists for seven points in seven games.  He’s always been one of the Leafs better playoff performers, which, along with the fact that he once led the NHL in net-front goals for an entire season, suggest his reputation for being a soft player is unwarranted.

Nylander will occasionally look like he isn’t giving a full effort, but the thing is, if he is this good without trying, what could he do if he cared?  Perhaps Nylander is just one of those guys whose performance is so smooth that it looks effortless? With numbers that completely contradict his reputation, this seems like the most likely answer.

Wayne Simmonds

Wayne Simmonds managed to record five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in 72 games while averaging 9:20 of ice time.

As a fourth line winger getting limited ice-time, Simmonds did his best to provide the Leafs with a physical edge, but there is only so much he can do with under 10 minutes per night.

He has seen his offensive role diminish over the years but has been a steady physical presence for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 16 points he produced last season are not bad for a fourth-line player. Simmonds registered 148 hits during the regular season and six hits during two playoff games. Toronto can’t ask for much more from a veteran making just $900,000 a season.

Simmonds has slowed down, and his Corsi for percentage dipped below 50% for the first time since the 2009-10 season. The Toronto Maple Leafs used Simmonds in 72 games last season because they lacked an enforcer-type player to step up for his teammates and fight, so for what he was asked to do, he did it well.

The Leafs are likely to move on, as they have many players trying to take his job, but Simmonds is a warrior and could maintain his roster position through sheer force of will.

Jason Spezza

Jason Spezza gave the Toronto Maple Leafs everything he had to try and help his hometown team win a championship.

He did it all while earning the league minimum of $750,000., and making it known he’d retire  rather than move somewhere on waivers.

The 19-year veteran recorded 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points in 71 games. Spezza continued his amazing streak of winning over 50% of his faceoffs for the 15th year in a row.

During the 2022 playoffs, Spezza recorded one point in five games. He averaged just 8:04 of ice time, and though he did his best, it was clearly time to hang up the skates.

When taking a faceoff at even-strength during the 2022 playoffs, Spezza won an incredible 80.0% of them. The 80.0% at even strength and the 60.0% over faceoff winning percentages were both career highs.

John Tavares

John Tavares, the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, continued his impressive streak of being at or close to a point per game player last season.

He recorded 27 goals and 49 assists for 76 points in 79 games. The captain posted a 53% Puck Possession rating, and a 55% Expected Goals Rating.  Taveres received terrible goaltending when he was on the ice last year, and along with Nylander had the lowest PDO on the team among players who played most games.

Tavares was slightly unlucky, and he may have not been 100% either, after his injury in the playoffs vs Montreal a year ago.

During the 2022 playoffs, Tavares recorded six points in 7 games. He even upped his faceoff winning percentage in the playoffs to 65.2%. The captain took 130 shifts averaging 18:35 in ice time while providing the Leafs with incredible secondary scoring.

Tavares is still worth the money, and when the Leafs are at home, and Kampf is playing against the other teams top line, and Matthews is taking the attention of the rest of their best players, Tavares and Nylander get to run wild against the kind weak competition elite players dream about but rarely face, and which led to the Leafs taking almost 80% of the point available to them at home.

Tavares will be healthy this season and he’ll be looking to earn/repair his contract, captaincy and legacy by bringing home the Stanley Cup for the Toronto Maple Leafs.