3 Reasons Why Toronto Maple Leafs Will Win Stanley Cup
This could be the year that the Toronto Maple Leafs finally win the Stanley Cup.
If you've read anything I've written about the Toronto Maple Leafs this season, thanks for not sending too much hate-mail, but secondly, you'd come to realize that I hated this team. I thought GM Brad Treliving was wasting Auston Matthews' "cheap' contract and saw a First-Round sweep, or worse, a missed playoff-berth in their future.
However, over the last few weeks, I've changed my mind. Although I don't think the Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the best five team's in the NHL, I'm convinced that this season is different.
As someone who's a terrible sports gambler, my future predictions are usually wrong, which means this Leafs team may actually be very good.
The Leafs defense is still a huge question-mark, but goaltender Ilya Samsonov continues to rack up wins, while Matthews continues to score, which is a good enough recipe for me. I do think that Joseph Woll is a better option, but once again, I'll have to assume, that's another bad take from me, as I clearly don't know anything.
As we get ready for another Leafs playoff run, I'm starting to drink the Kool-Aid and believe that this is the year this team gets it done. The playoffs are a crazy animal and this team is seemingly flying under the radar, despite having the best goal-scorer of the past 30 years on their roster.
Here are three reasons why the Toronto Maple Leafs can win a Stanley Cup this year.
Reason No. 1: The New Auston Matthews Line
Auston Matthews is not only one of the best players in the NHL, but if he can win a few team trophies, he could end up being looked at higher than Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby. I know that's crazy to think but he now has two 60-goal seasons, with a chance to reach 70 this year, and no reason to believe he'll slow down over the next few years.
Playing alongside someone like Mitch Marner or William Nylander will help you score, but Matthews has shown that he can do it beside Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi, which is huge for this team.
I've always hated that this team stacked Matthews, Marner, Nylander and John Tavares all within the top-six and much rather preferred them between three lines, and thanks to Matthews' continuous strong play, it looks like that's going to happen in the playoffs.
By keeping Domi and Bertuzzi with Matthews, the Leafs will now have the ability to keep Marner or Nylander on the third-line, which gives this team incredible depth.
They now have an elite player on all three lines, and won't sacrifice defensive play if they keep Marner on that third-line role. I know that can be considered a downgrade for Marner, but he's been here for seven years and hasn't won. If playing on the third line can help the overall team win a Stanley Cup, he needs to be happy with it.
Not only does depth help, but Matthews seems like an unstoppable force this year, more than ever. As such, I don't see him slowing down and if he keeps this up, he could be chasing another record: goals in a playoff. Reggie Leach scored 19 goals in 16 playoff games during their run in 1975-76, and if the Leafs do in fact win a Stanley Cup this year, I have to believe Matthews will get close to that number, or even break it.
Reason No. 2: Toronto Maple Leafs Have Found Goaltending
Is Ilya Samsonov a legitimate no. 1 goaltender now or is he just on the most random heater of all-time? I can't seem to figure it out, but you can't deny his 23-6 season record, which includes an 18-3 record since January.
Whenever Samsonov is in net, the Leafs seem to win and that's good enough for me. He's peaking at the right time and his confidence is higher than ever, which is huge for a goaltender who thought he may never get an NHL chance again after being put on waivers earlier this year.
Although Samsonov's record is undeniable, I acutally like the Leafs chances at winning a Stanley Cup because they have Joseph Woll.
Woll's record isn't going to jump out the same way Samsonov's does, but when you watch him play, you can see that he's the better goalie.
If Samsonov falters after two games to start the playoffs, Woll has shown that he can jump in and perform. This happened last year when Samsonov got injured and Woll didn't miss a beat, helping them win Game 4 against Florida, before ultimately losing the series in five games.
There have been multiple examples of teams who have won a Stanley Cup by playing two (or three) goaltenders, so if one fails, the other can jump in, and I think that's huge for this team's chances.
Reason No. 3: Because They're Not Supposed To This Year
Once the Leafs fired Kyle Dubas and we watched Brad Treliving have one of the worst offseasons of all-time, we spit on this team and said that they had no chance at winning.
Fast-forward eight months and Ryan Reaves looks like a legt fourth-liner, while Bertuzzi and Domi are paired beside Matthews on the top-line.
As previously mentioned, the Leafs' defense is still an issue, but that's what they said about the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017. Their defense was also abysmal, but they had Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and two solid goaltenders to get the job done, which is kind of where Toronto stands right now.
When it comes to Stanley Cup favorites, the Leafs are a good team, but they should not be favorites. The New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers should all be expected to do better than the Leafs.
If they were somehow able to get out of the Eastern Conference, they would then still have to beat most likely one of Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, Golden Knights or Edmonton Oilers, which seems impossible.
feed
We all joke that "this is the year" but of all the seasons, it's safe to assume that this year seems like the least likely chance they actually have. As a result, when it's less likely to happen, professional sports have a funny way of doing the opposite, which is why the Leafs will have their best playoff performance since 1967 this year.