The Toronto Maple Leafs' return to a playoff spot this season has sparked optimism among fans. While pundits may not be fully convinced of the club’s staying power, the seeds are there for what could be a remarkable second half.
Monday night’s win over the Colorado Avalanche, snapping the 17-game home winning streak, is evidence enough that the Leafs can hang with the best of them. The win in Colorado gave the Maple Leafs 53 points and the first wild card spot.
If the playoffs started today, the Maple Leafs would face the second seed in the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Red Wings. Such a series would be fantastic for hockey. The last time the Leafs played the Red Wings in the postseason was the 1993 Norris Division Semi-Finals. I recall that Game 7, when Nikolai Borschevsky scored to send the Leafs past the Red Wings and into a collision course with the St. Louis Blues.
Beyond the entertaining stroll down memory lane, the Maple Leafs would actually have a decent shot at making a solid playoff push this season. Assuming the Leafs remained in that wild card spot, they would face the winner of the Tampa Bay Lightning-Montreal Canadiens series.
The Bolts and Habs would face one another as the second and third seeds in the Atlantic Division. That series would be greatly beneficial for the Maple Leafs, as a Tampa-Montreal series promises mutually-assured destruction of two good teams.
Assuming the Habs got past the Lightning, it would set up a Maple Leafs-Canadiens second-round matchup. That’s another fantastic look for the NHL. Two legendary teams squaring off on hockey’s most important stage could overload the hockey world.
(Of course, we all remember the last time these two teams played in the postseason.)
As for the Conference Final, that would be a toss-up. The betting favorites would be the Carolina Hurricanes. But that side of the Eastern Conference bracket is hardly easy to predict.
Ultimately, the Maple Leafs are better off as a wild card team. If they bumped the Canadiens down into a wild card spot, that would set up a clash with the Lightning yet again. A second-place finish in the Atlantic would produce the same result.
The only other viable option would be to win the division. That’s certainly possible, but truly doubtful. Unless the Red Wings and Lightning hit an awful second-half slump, getting that far seems unlikely.
The Bolts have won 10 in a row and don’t look like they’re cooling off. Yes, the club is reeling from the loss of Brayden Point on Monday night. But then again, the Lightning are good enough to pick up the slack and keep rolling.
Perhaps we can take up this discussion at the Olympic break and assess where the Maple Leafs are at that point. That juncture should provide more clarity into what we can expect from the Leafs heading into the spring.