5 Early Season Positives For The Toronto Maple Leafs
(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
The Return to Form of Auston Matthews
All NHL players should strive to have an “off” year and still manage to pot forty goals. Such was the case for Matthews last season as he fought through an expected nagging hand/wrist injury and a career-low 12.2 shooting percentage.
Fear not, Leaf fans, the “Rocket Man” (apologies to Elton John) has returned with a vengeance. Matthews ushered in the new NHL season with back-to-back hat tricks.
He became only the fifth player in NHL history to complete the feat to start a season.
With it, the two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner gave a clear indication he intends to regain the coveted goal-scoring hardware.
While the 246 early-season goal projections were fun, the most important indicator is that Matthews is healthy. He is the Leafs most important player.
Matthews appears to get more and more comfortable with his role on the team with each passing year. He has experienced the hockey-mad market of Toronto and excelled.
He is more at ease in front of the media and the spotlight that surrounds him. He has come to embrace it.
Getting his contract extension completed before the season has allowed him to focus solely on his play. It shows by his results on the ice.
Matthews recently potted his seventh goal in the team’s sixth game of the season against the Washington Capitals. In 2022-2023, it took him sixteen games to reach seven goals.
A goal-a-game pace is likely unrealistic, but with his hot start, it is not out of the question that Matthews eclipses his career-high of sixty goals in a season.
Scoring goals at his normal, prolific rate is great news for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team will only go as far as its star players take them.
Other Stars of the Toronto Maple Leafs Are Also Excelling
Another star player dealing with extension talks is William Nylander. Constant offseason chatter around his situation has not affected his play.
Before the season, Nylander did not offer concern about his contract. General manager Brad Treliving even commented about Nylander’s relaxed attitude.
Should Nylander continue his torrid start to the season, he will have no problem getting his rumored $10 million AAV on his next deal.
Nylander has continued his stellar play with the puck and has eliminated his penchant for maddening mental errors.
He is right behind Matthews in goals scored, as expected, plus delivering as a playmaker.
Nylander and his usual centre, John Tavares are pushing back on the narrative that they lack chemistry. Both are among the early NHL point leaders.
As Tavares enters his next-to-last season on his contract, he appears reinvigorated. He has been dogged on the forecheck and net-front battles, both at 5 vs 5 or on the power play.
Tavares’ play is going to be a critical factor in the Toronto Maple Leafs fortunes for the next two years. Fair or not, he will be judged based on his $11 million AAV.
If he and Nylander can maintain their offensive production with minimal defensive issues, the Leafs will greatly benefit as it takes some pressure off of Matthews and Mitch Marner.
Their contributions are more important since Marner is playing below his standard at the moment.
Nylander and Tavares are also part of the Leafs sizzling power play. The Leafs already highly regarded power play has improved from prior years, converting at a 35% clip.
That increased special-teams production will accumulate more points in the standings, helping with potential playoff seeding.
Sheldon Keefe Is Pushing The Right Buttons
New general manager Treliving would have been justified in waiting out the season before deciding on a contract for head coach Sheldon Keefe.
He was impressed by his initial interactions with Keefe and signed him to an extension before the season. It was a questionable commitment considering the Toronto Maple Leafs lack of postseason success.
So far, Keefe is proving Treliving’s faith in him.
Keefe’s constant line-juggling is always scrutinized, but credit must be given for many of his moves.
He has not been afraid to tinker with combinations to find ideal spots for his new players (still a work in progress) or go away from what is not working.
Projected first-line left winger Tyler Bertuzzi has been moved elsewhere. Matthew Knies and Max Domi were both scuffling until being put together against the Lightning and that sparked a comeback victory.
During the same game, he created a stacked forward unit of Nylander-Matthews-Marner that carried the play to also ignite the team.
Most critical to winning against the Lightning was Keefe’s decision to pull starter Ilya Samsonov and replace him with Joseph Woll. The team responded as Woll refused to be beaten.
Keefe didn’t hesitate to change the D pairings after the Leafs dreadful defensive start. While the defense will be a season-long concern, the moves provided some temporary relief.
Keefe also called out his star players for their lackluster effort in a loss against the Chicago Blackhawks. Unlike last year, he did not walk back his comments.
He made his expectations clear and put his players on notice that their effort was unacceptable.
Another vastly underrated aspect of Keefe? His video replay challenges. Credit must also go to the Leafs off-ice video crew, but Keefe has the final say on what plays to review.
His career challenge record is an eye-popping 81.5%. More difficult to judge is how it can change the momentum of a game.
A case in point was the Leafs recent game against the Washington Capitals. The Capitals thought they had scored the all-important first goal of the game, but were denied when Keefe challenged for goaltender interference.
With momentum shifted, the Toronto Maple Leafs scored the next four goals of the game.
For a Leafs team that will be judged come the playoffs, Keefe’s decision-making will be critical in motivating his players and managing the roster as they navigate the regular season.
Right now, he is making all the right decisions.
The Play of Joseph Woll
A year ago at this time, Joseph Woll was an afterthought when considering the Leafs goaltending. Midseason injuries allowed him an opportunity.
He looked unencumbered by it all, so much so, that when pressed into action in the Stanley Cup playoffs he became a prominent part of the Leafs plans in net.
The Leafs entrenched him as their backup before the season started, knowing he would be claimed by another NHL team should he be exposed on waivers.
While many considered the possibility that he could eventually become the Leafs number one goaltender, the timeline has arrived earlier than planned.
Woll finds himself among the league leaders in many advanced stats categories. His combined numbers compute to being the 4th ranked goalie league-wide.
He backstopped the Leafs to two victories over the Lightning and Capitals.
His 29 saves on 29 shots against the Lightning allowed the Leafs the opportunity to come back.
He was responsible for stealing two points against the Capitals, stopping 36 of 37 shots, highlighted by thwarting Alex Ovechkin on a penalty shot. He also stopped twelve other Ovechkin shots.
Woll’s play has many followers of the Leafs calling for him to be anointed the starter. Whether he gets the official number one tag, at the very least, he has earned more playing time.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have many early-season issues to address before they can be taken as a serious championship caliber team, but there are many positive signs in their quest to make it happen.