Toronto Maple Leafs: Media Hysteria Hides 'Best Team' Status

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The Toronto Maple Leafs entered the NHL’s new season in what surely is the most unique situation ever.

Losers of six straight opening-round playoff series, and occupying the centre of the hockey universe (with the baggage and media nonsense that entails)the Toronto Maple Leafs happen to have one of the best rosters ever assembled in the NHL’s Salary Cap Era, and yet they get the respect of a busted lip-syncing pop star.

That’s OK.

Whenever I read something stupid about my favorite hockey team, I just remember that Ed Sheeran has sold more records than Morrissey.

I recall that Avatar ( My Review: zero stars) sold more tickets in it’s opening weekend that David Lynch has sold in his entire career.

I recall my second-favorite quote.

And when I am centered, I get down to the business of telling all of y’all how it is.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sit in the Cat Seat

Though I’m hearing a ton of nonsense, if you ignore the noise, the Leafs are exactly what I’ve been saying all summer long: The best team in hockey.

They have a 4-3 record, and all three of their losses were games they could have won. Not saying they deserved to, but this team has won nearly 70% of the points available to them over three years, and the reason they win so often is that Matthews and Marner allow them to win a lot of games they don’t necessarily deserve to win.

Despite playing as well as ever, neither player is contributing as much as they normally would, which is understandable, because these things happen.

For whatever reason Pierre Engvall appears to be the one player everyone is hyper-focused on complaining about.

Even though the Leafs have outshot their opponents 34-20 with him on the ice, they also have an
.850 save percentage, 2.5 on-ice shooting percentage.
— Editor in Leaf (@EditorinLeaf) October 25, 2022

It’s a long season, and not every single game can see a max-effort performance. The game against Vegas was garbage, but one total dud out of seven games is actually not a bad ratio, and that was also a winnable game, thanks to Illya Samsonov.

Oct 22, 2022; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports /

Auston Matthews Will Eventually Contribute

For the first 414 games of his career, Auston Matthews scored on over 16% of his shots. (naturalstattrick.com).

This season, despite leading the NHL in 5v5 shots and being 3rd in shots overall (maybe not after last night’s slate of games, but after the last game he played) Matthews is shooting about 3%.

His Expected Goals rating is actually higher than last years, so lets consider that he has been powerfully unlucky to start the season, and that if he scores at even half his normal rate, the Leafs are likely 5-2, 6-1 or even 7-0.

This makes all criticism relating to the start of this season absolutely ridiculous. Note: Toronto and Colorado are both 4-3 while Tampa is 3-4. You know what Frankie says.

The funniest thing about the horrible analysis that Leafs fans have been mostly subjected to for the last three season is that it’s relentlessly negative, and anything that could paint the team in a positive light gets ignored.

Such as:

Columbus had to set an NHL Record for save percentage in a series to beat them (98% 5v5).
Montreal beat them when Tavares played for 2 minutes out of 7 games, and Matthews was unable to shoot the puck.
Tampa beat them despite being outplayed. The Leafs fourth win was discounted by a blown call, and the best goalie in the world played maybe the best game of his career in game seven to beat them.

These kind of bad breaks should unite us behind the team, but the reach of the likes of Jeff O’Neil and Nick Kypreos is such that their (I have to believe intentionally) bad takes set the tone of how people view this team.

May 10, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) celebrates his goal scored with forward Mitchell Marner ( . Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

The Outlook Is Beyond Optimistic

Under the circumstances of the last three years, Leafs fans should be pumped for the new season. Add in the fact that they are a team that never quits and always comes back for more, and they should earn your devotion.

But hey, some guy who works for the Toronto Sun told you they suck, even though they failed for 50+ years while following conventional hockey wisdom, they should totally bail on a team who has gotten demonstrably unlucky at every turn, despite setting an Original Six franchise record in points and wins.

If you aren’t pumped for this team, I’m afraid that maybe you’ve been brainwashed by the media’s ceaseless campaign to punish Kyle Dubas for having the temerity to re-think what the Old Boys Club has told us was set in stone.

Hockey hates innovation, and the media hates being ignored. You can trace the Leafs current perception right back to the fact that they chose a The Kid over The Stegosaurus, then hired a rookie coach, over a different Stegosaurus, then ignored the demand to trade William Nylander.

Just keep in mind the following:

The Leafs now have about $10-12 million or so in cap space with Murray and Muzzin on the LTIR and likely not coming back soon, if ever.

Auston Matthews shooting 3% just means more goals later when time and the law of averages correct him back to 15%.

Everyone wants to trade Pierre Engvall, but he is coming off a high-ankle sprain, and the Leafs are yet to pair him with Kampf (due to Kerfoot, but they will eventually). His numbers are great, but the save percentage and shooting percentages are crazy-low, so let’s just forget that he was the NHL’s best defensive forward last season (along with his partner, Kampf).

David Kampf leads the team with 2 5v5 goals. Did I already say that? I am repeating it for emphasis. The team has a winning record and Kampf leads them in goals. That is the sign the team is insanely good.

Barrie Trotz might look like Dr. Robotnik, but that doesn’t make him the right coach for this team. Sheldon Keefe is a coach for the future. The last thing this team needs is to look to the past.

dark. Next. Will The Leafs Take This Bad Advice?

Stay the course. Play the kids. Be patient.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the NHL’s best team.

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