The Toronto Maple Leafs had a great regular season last year and made it a fourth straight season with 100 or more points, but it was the first time they would win the Atlantic Division as it is today. They got off to a great start to defending their division title with a dominant 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens to open the season.
While it is a long season, the next 10 games could be the deciding factor on whether the Maple Leafs are able to win a second consecutive division title. It is setting up in a way that would allow them to build an early lead over the rest of the division that can force the other teams to try and play catch up.
Over the next 10 games, seven of them are at home which includes five straight after their road game against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. While they do have two sets of back-to-backs in this stretch the caliber of the teams they are playing is what really gives them the chance to run away early in the season.
Toronto Maple Leafs have only one game against a playoff team from last season
When looking at the next 10 games, there is only one against a playoff team and that is a home game against the New Jersey Devils. The fact the Devils are the only playoff team, which they barely snuck in to begin with, is one of the big reasons for them to have a chance at a fast start.
They have two games against the Detroit Red Wings coming up along with two games against the Buffalo Sabres in this next stretch. They have one game against the Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, Seattle Kraken, Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets.
Now some of these teams might be improved from last year, like the Rangers and Kraken, but there should still be a big gap between the Maple Leafs and these teams. While anything can happen, the Maple Leafs realistically should win every game over their next 10 games and if they can do that the regular season should end with another division title.