The Toronto Maple Leafs accomplished a lot during Craig Berube's first regular season behind the bench. A revised structure with defensive improvements led to a rare Atlantic Division title.
A ninth consecutive playoff berth saw the team collect 108 points, the third-most in club history. They recorded a franchise record 25 road victories. Goaltenders Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll became the first Leafs tandem to each earn over 20 wins in a season.
William Nylander achieved a career-high 45 goals, finishing second in the league. Mitch Marner finished fifth in NHL scoring, becoming the first Maple Leafs winger to hit the century mark in points.
The regular season achievements were great, but will be meaningless without a successful postseason run. Toronto and its fans are longing for something more after numerous playoff failures.
Scar tissue from those eight previous early playoff exits aside, the Maple Leafs have other less obvious worries as they prepare for a new chapter in the Battle of Ontario and get set to face the Ottawa Senators.
3 areas of concern as the Maple Leafs prepare for the Battle of Ontario
The Leafs struggled in their regular-season series against Ottawa. The Sens won all three meetings, outscoring Toronto 9-3. They were the only team to sweep the Maple Leafs in three or more regular-season games.
That jolt of confidence and their youth and exuberance make the Senators a dangerous opponent. The excitement of their first playoff appearance in eight years and opposing a hated provincial rival won't leave them short on motivation.
The Maple Leafs hope the two teams' playoff history repeats itself. In previous playoff meetings, the Leafs rebounded from getting dominated in the regular season to oust the Senators on multiple occasions.
The Leafs are favored, but have the baggage from recent playoff bungles. If Toronto loses the first game, trails 2-1, or the series gets to a seventh game, the pressure intensifies again.
Ottawa is focused on getting out front in the series and turning the heat up on the Leafs. It's their best hope of having their regular-season dominance turn into a series win.
Leafs' struggling power play
Playing with a man-advantage would seem an unlikely source of concern for the Leafs and their roster of top-end players. However, the five-forward unit used by Berube for most of the season has been inconsistent. They finished the season just inside the top ten.
For most of the first half of the year, the Leafs had a middling ranking. This is from a unit regularly situated among the top five in the league in prior seasons.
A sizzling March saw the Maple Leafs score 15 power-play goals in 15 games. In April, they scored only one power play goal in eight games, a significant regression.
During the Leafs recent playoff history, they have struggled to score, both at 5-on-5 and on the power play. That must get rectified if they hope to get past the Senators.
The health of the Leafs defense
The Leafs have hitched their wagon to more complete, two-way play this season. A big part of that has been an improved blue line. Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe have developed into a formidable shutdown pair, and the trade deadline addition of Brandon Carlo has solidified the top four and elevated the play of Morgan Rielly.
Oilver Ekman-Larsson has been steady and logged more minutes than expected on the Maple Leafs defense. He and McCabe, however, both missed games at the end of the regular season with injuries. Berube has been closely guarded with details surrounding their ailments.
Either of them missing time against the Senators or playing at less than optimal health is problematic. Their absence would be felt at even-strength and killing penalties.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have a better playoff seeding, health up front, and depth in goal as a new postseason awaits, but there are still concerns to be addressed if they are to get out of the first round.