The Toronto Maple Leafs have a good chance at winning multiple NHL Awards this season.
Prior to Auston Matthews joining the organization, the Toronto Maple Leafs would rarely win awards, but now that he’s on the roster, they have a chance to win an individual award every season.
Matthews joined the NHL during the 2016-17 and was immediately successful, winning the Calder Trophy, as the league’s best rookie. Since then, he’s followed it up with two Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophies, as the league’s top goal-scorer, and also won the Ted Lindsay Award and Hart Trophy, which are the NHL’s most valuable player award’s.
Although the team hasn’t been able to capture a title, Matthews has given the organization a lot to cheer for and it would be in the best interest of them to sign him to a long-term contract, sooner than later. In my opinion, Matthews is already the greatest player in team history, so they need to keep him on the roster until he retires.
As for the rest of the team, although it’s not technically an award, Mitch Marner has been named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team on two occasions, which is a huge honor, for a player who gets a lot of hate. This award is saying that he was the best right-winger in hockey for two seasons, yet he’s the first one to be rumored in trade talks every summer.
I’d be lying if I wasn’t one of those people to criticize him more often than not, but when I look back, it is very crazy to think that I’d rather have him playing somewhere else than Toronto.
Despite the lack of playoff success, the past few years have been great for Leafs fans and I’d expect that to continue this year, as there are multiple player’s who have an opportunity to win an award this season.
Let’s take a look at a few potential awards the team could win this season.