The Toronto Maple Leafs have had loads of regular season success over the last eight seasons, leading to playoff births and disappointments in every season.
But last year was the most disappointing Toronto Maple Leafs regular season of them all.
The team was never fully clicking on all cylinders and it led to a lousy 102 points and third place finish in the Atlantic division. A routine seven game series loss to Boston in round 1, followed by a long offseason with no significant change and Toronto is back for ninth season. This time with cup aspirations, according to alternate captain Morgan Rielly.
Every team’s main goal should be the Stanley cup, but in the Maple Leafs case, they need to put a similar emphasis on winning the division title.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have only one recent division title, and that came during the season in which they played in front of empty arenas in an all Canadian division. The Atlantic Division is the toughest division in hockey, and the league's playoff format makes it so that the Atlantic teams that don't win the division have a preposterously hard path through to the Finals.
In order to have a reasonable shot at the Stanley Cup, the Leafs need to play a wild-card team in round one and avoid having to run a gauntlet just to get out of the Eastern Conference. For examnple, last year's team would have had to beat Boston, Florida and New York just to get to Edmonton, which would be next impossible for anyone, let alone the Leafs.
It is clear that the Leafs need to win the division in order to give themselves a shot. Here's how:
Beat the Bad Teams
For as long as I can remember the Maple Leafs play down to their opponent. In recent years they’ve struggled against teams such as the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadians, New York Islanders, and Arizona Coyotes (now Utah Hockey Club), who they should be beating 9 out of 10 times.
This season the Maple Leafs must put in the same amount of effort on a night to night basis, no matter who their opponent. Craig Berube may be the perfect coach to instil this culture upon the team, but will the players buy in?
Star Players need to Buy in
It won’t matter if the bottom 6 buys in to the “north” hockey that Berube has spoken so much about. The Maple Leafs will need their star players, playing on the top two lines, to play with same passion in order to form a winning culture.
Win Their Goalie Bet
The Leafs lost out on Jusse Saros and Jacob Markstrom so they decided to go with a high-upside low-experience tandem in Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz. This could pay off in spades or it could be a disaster.
In order to win the division, the Leafs must cash on their goali bet.
Stay Healthy
It's obvious, but it's key. This is the great random factor of every NHL season. As much as we wring our hands about minor roster decisions, the fact is it all comes down to the health of the players.
If the Leafs are healthy, they'll have a good shot at winning the division.