The Toronto Maple Leafs were denied their fourth win in a row Thursday night.
Facing atrocious officiating that did them no favors, and missing two of their best players, the Toronto Maple Leafs were goalied, refereed, and generally unlucky in their loss to the Wings.
One thing that they were not, was outplayed.
They rarely are.
This team’s talent is matched only by it’s depth and it is something approaching the best team ever assembled in the cap era.
Look at what they are doing, and then realize that they have been doing it while Auston Matthews plays through a nagging injury that is clearly affecting what would otherwise be the best shot in the world.
Toronto Maple Leafs Hiding in Plain Site
The fact of how good this team is, has been hidden by frustration everyone feels of not getting any playoff success.
The Leafs have the 9th best shooting percentage, and the 7th best goaltending (5v5). And yet, they are second in the league on any given night (lately trading places with the Hurricanes in see-saw fashion).
NHL injury visualization. Man games lost to injuries and health protocols versus team wins. Bubble size represents cumulative quality of players lost for games (Lost-ps metric) https://t.co/44s29hcg0R pic.twitter.com/MYSzPesXQz
— Man-Games Lost NHL (@ManGamesLostNHL) January 6, 2023
You have to go back to October 24th, in a game against the Golden Knights, to find the last time the Leafs lost a game in regulation in which they were under 50% Expected Goals.
Before that it was the first game of the season against Montreal.
In every other game, 41 of them, in total, the Toronto Maple Leafs either were the best team in the game by expected goals, lost the game in overtime, or won. Only twice have they actually been the worst team in a game during 5v5 and not somehow pulled off a victory.
This is a team whose best player is at maybe 80%, who hasn’t been healthy once all year, even if you don’t count Jake Muzzin to make a full lineup.
This is a team that played their 4th string goalie ten times in the first 20 games.
A team that isn’t getting particularly lucky.
A team that still manages to either win or deserve to win almost every single night.
A team with assets to make trades with, and the cap space to make them happen.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been working towards where they are now since they drafted Auston Matthews in 2016. A typical NHL rebuild is always said to be 5 years long, and this is so engrained in hockey culture it’s a cliché. (all stats naturalstattrick.com).
The Leafs, have played one full season beyond the rebuild phase. In that season, they took the back-to-back Champs to the limit, arguably being the better team and deserving the win.
This year, Rebuild+2, they are looking like the NHL’s best team. They are deep, they are talented, and they are flirting with a .700 points-percentage while at least three things (Overall health of the team, Auston Matthews being only 80%, Erik Kallgren having to play ten times) are suppressing their potential.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are on fire. They are crushing opponents consistently, and can only get better. I think all the first round losses really turned the focus away from the good things that this team has done, and now what could become the best team of the Cap Era is hiding in plain sight.
People forget that the Lightning didn’t make their first Final, which they lost, until Stamkos 7th year. Guess what year this is for Matthews?