The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to begin the 2023-24 NHL schedule this week.
The 2023-24 promises to be an interesting season for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I mean, sure, they’re “running it back” yet again, but this time they’ve got a new General Manager, a new supporting cast, and a few rookies to maybe even get excited about.
The New GM – Brad Treliving – has been lovingly accepted by most of the Leafs faithful, and everyone seems pretty psyched for Max Domi, John Klingberg and Tyler Bertuzzi.
Some may question how a fanbase that complains that Mitch Marner might be several hundred thousand dollars overpaid, is fine with paying David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, Max Domi and John Klingberg a combined $11 million dollar cap hit.
Others may question the new GM’s predistortion towards name-brand players whose statistics rate out as replacement players.
And others may wonder how the narrative about the team being tougher to play against and grittier makes any sense when Schenn, Holl, O’Reilly, Acciari, Bunting and Kerfoot all left, and Ryan Reaves isn’t going to play any more than Wayne Simmonds did.
Sure the Leafs added Bertuzzi, but Domi is not the gritty forward his reputation suggests, and if he had a different name on his sweater he would be seen in a completely different light.
Overall, whatever narrative you subscribe to, the Toronto Maple Leafs will once again be getting by on whatever their massive star-power and the random nature of goalies can do for them.
A playoff spot and consideration as a Cup Favorite are all but assured, but questions about the blue-line and overall team toughness will persist until reinforcements are brought in.
Here now is the team’s roster, complete with stats, analysis and anything else we could think to mention. (Info for this article naturalstattrick.com, capfriendly.com and hockeydb.com).