5 Reasons to Be Optimistic About the Toronto Maple Leafs

Change Is Afoot in the NHL Standings

If you haven’t looked at the NHL standings recently, you may be surprised by what you see.  Several teams we’re used to seeing at the top are no longer there (Dubas cannot save Pittsburgh), while others that have provided the comic relief for years (hello, Vancouver!) are suddenly showing some strength.

Since the advent of the salary cap, it has become very difficult to stay on top forever, as big salaries for star players and low draft picks year after year tend to catch up to you.

Conversely, weak teams generally find themselves with cap space at some point, and constantly picking high in the draft tends to improve a team over team.

So tell me something I don’t know, right?  What this means this year to the Toronto Maple Leafs (and the Atlantic Division) is that the Tampa Bay Lightning are no longer a frightening opponent.  Despite their surprise playoff run last year, the Florida Panthers never were that scary.

Buffalo, Ottawa and Montreal have some exciting young players, but those teams aren’t ready yet.  Detroit is looking good, but again, probably not ready yet.

Within the division, that leaves Boston, who are once again leading the league in points.  By all reasoning, the Bruins should be on the way down, but fantastic goaltending from both Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark has kept them at the top.

Can that dynamic due continue robbing opponents all season long and into the playoffs?  We shall see.

If you’ve been following closely, you’ll realize that circumstances are aligning just the right way for the Toronto Maple Leafs to make a long playoff run, and maybe put an end to that annoying little Stanley Cup drought.

In past years, it often felt that no matter how well the Leafs did, they were already doomed by the NHL’s ridiculous playoff format.  This year feels different, at least in that respect.

There’s a lot of work yet to do, both by the players and the management team. But if that heavy lifting is done and the team comes together, the sky is the limit.