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NHL News and how it pertains to the Toronto Maple Leafs

Checking in on the rest of the NHL instead of just the Toronto Maple Leafs.

By James Tanner |
Oct 16, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) makes a save against Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) as defenseman Bowen Byram (4) defends during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Oct 16, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) makes a save against Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) as defenseman Bowen Byram (4) defends during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Toronto Maple Leafs are off to a very sweet and super respectable 3-1 start. It's such a good start that I won't even complain that it should be 4-0 if not for a four goalpost, 47 shot effort that ended in a loss against Montreal to kick off the season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been crushing opponents at 5v5, they've been given solid starts from most of their off-season acquisitions and in their last game against LA, the stars even got in on the action.

The goaltending was shaky coming out of camp with the injury to Joseph Woll, but Anthony Stolarz is playing well so everything is fine for now.

Sure, the team is capped out, needs a centre, has no elite number-one defenseman, can't score on the power-play and their captain hawks amulets to people who don't know any better, but things are good. With that said, let's check in on the news around the league.

NHL News and how it pertains to the Toronto Maple Leafs

The biggest news in the NHL right now, besides the fact that John Tavares has endorsed a product that any ten year old could tell is a scam, is that Sidney Crosby scored his 1600th point, becoming the tenth player to do so. Crosby had already passed Phil Espisito for 10th place, and needs just 39 more points to pass Joe Sakic for 9th.

Incidentally, Toronto Maple Leafs all-time leading scorer, Mats Sundin, is 30th all-time, while Doug Gilmour is 21st and, somehow, Dave Andreychuck is 31st. (quanthockey.com).

The Dallas Stars have signed Jake Oettinger to a contract extension, which just makes me hope the Leafs have finally gotten lucky with a goalie. A healthy Joseph Woll could certainly earn such a contract in the future. But will he ever be healthy?

The Avs are 0-4. Like the Leafs, their floor is so high that no one should worry about this. They aren't as deep or as good as they could be, but like the Leafs have learned, once you actually have to pay your players top dollar, its harder to win. The Avs, unlike the Leafs, had the good fortune of Nathan MacKinnon not being that great right away, which led to him being an absolute bargain for most of his later career.

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And finally, a goalie scored. That's always the best. This time it was Filip Gustavsson and good for him. Amazingly, it was the 18th goalie goal ever! That's nuts.

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