The Toronto Maple Leafs are something like the NHL’s best team.
Sure, the Boston Bruins have a 12 points lead on the Toronto Maple Leafs, but in context, that isn’t so bad.
First, the Bruins are basically 12 points up on everyone. On any given night the Leafs or Carolina are in second place, but neither has much hope of catching up.
That said, the Bruins are not the best team of all time. They lead the NHL In 5v5 save percentage and are 3rd in 5v5 shooting percentage (one of just three teams flirting with 10% shooting).(all stats naturalstattrick.com).
To say they have been lucky would be to insult other lucky teams in the past. They are not anything close to the best team of all-time, but if the season ended today, they’d be in that conversation. They are just getting all the breaks.
The Leafs, on the other hand, are keeping pace despite a preposterous amount of injuries and OT losses.
The Leafs don’t rely on luck as much as Boston, and stripped of their horseshoes, the Leafs are the superior team, as will become apparent later this year.
That is, if the Leafs do the right thing at the trade deadline, which means getting the correct players, and going all-in to make it happen.
It is time to mortgage the future, trade whatever isn’t nailed down, and assemble the best possible roster. What I’m gonna break down for you here is the worst case scenario, by counting down 3 players the Leafs should not be interested in.