Toronto Maple Leafs: Breaking Down the 2023-24 Blue-Line

The Toronto Maple Leafs will begin training camp this week and the prospect tournament is currently going on,  and the preseason is also right around the corner.

Despite some obvious errors and some terrible decisions, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be a top contender once again this year.

They have been the 3rd best team, with a .650+ points-percentage over the last three years, and I don’t expect that to change.

The NHL is a star driven league, so with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, followed immediately by John Tavars and William Nylander, the Toronto Maple Leafs will continue to be a great team.

And make no mistake, just because of some fluky playoff results and a media system that refuses to venerate anyone who doesn’t find success in the NHL’s Annual Variance Hoedown (ie the playoffs), doesn’t mean that this isn’t and hasn’t been a great team.

It has.

And while the team probably should have spent more wisely in free-agency, and probably should not have fired the best executive in pro sports, they are still an elite team.

Even with this blue-line, which we are here to discuss today.

I am going to lay out the composition of the blue-line, then evaluate each player.

Please enjoy carefully, as this is a Stephen King-level horror story!

Note: Cap info from capfriendly.com, stats from naturalstattrick.com)