Top 4 Storylines of Toronto Maple Leafs 2023-24 Season
The 2023-24 Toronto Maple Leafs regular season is over and it kind of went exactly how we all expected.
The Atlantic Division title looked possible for the Toronto Maple Leafs at one point, but they ultimately finished third in the division with 102 points and will face the Boston Bruins in the First Round.
Whether it was the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins or Tampa Bay Lightning, all three would have been tough opponents for the blue-and-white, but I'm happy this team will try to avenge some demons against Boston.
When we look back on the 2023-24 season, it's safe to say that there weren't many surprises.
The team's big signings (Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, Ryan Reaves and John Klingberg) performed kind of how we thought they would. Maybe we expected a few more goals out of Domi, but if you knew anything about these four ahead of the season, it's not shocking how they performed and that Klingberg isn't on the playoff roster.
All it takes is 16 more wins and the 2023-24 season can go from, just another year, to an unforgettable two-month run.
Either way, let's look back at the top 4 moments of the Toronto Maple Leafs season.
No. 1: Auston Matthews Wins Another Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy
Fans, and Auston Matthews, should not be disappointed in that fact that he didn't reach 70 goals this year, and instead, should be in-awe of the fact that he scored 69 goals. This was the most goals scored by a player in a single season in 30 years, yet it wasn't talked about as much as it should have been.
Matthews is so good at scoring goals that when he scored 40 goals last year, the storylines heading into the season were "Will Matthews Goal Scoring Bounce Back?".
Most NHLers go their entire careers without reaching 40 goals in a season, but Matthews scoring 40 felt like it was the end of the world. In eight seasons, Matthews has scored 40 or more goals six(!!) times now, which is insane. Alex Ovechkin only scored 40-plus in five of his first eight years, so put that into perspective.
The race to 70 goals was a fun one and gave us something to watch after the team's playoff-berth was set and they were locked into the third seed. Although he finished with 69 goals, this season needs to be celebrated because it may never happen again.
I know that Matthews is a machine and has multiple 60-goal season's now, but I wouldn't be shocked if he never reaches this number again.
I may be wrong and we could be talking about Matthews going for 82 goals in 82 games one day, but it's just so hard to reach the number he achieved this season. If William Nylander scored 69 goals this year, he would have been the clear-cut Hart Trophy winner, but since it's Matthews, we treat it like he's supposed to do it.
Matthews' 2023-24 season will go down as one of, if not, the greatest seasons in Leafs history, but it will take a few years for us to really appreciate it.
No. 2: Morgan Rielly Gets Suspended
On February 10, Ottawa Senators Ridly Greig fired a slapshot into an empty-netter to secure a 5-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, which really angered Morgan Rielly.
After the puck went in, Rielly raced over to Grieg and cross-checked him in the head, which resulted in a game misconduct and ultimately a five-game suspension.
The actions by Rielly were debated by everyone in sports media and I personally didn't think it was worth a five-game suspension.
Rielly did exactly what you should do in that situation and sent a message to Greig and the Senators that a play like that is unacceptable. The game was already over, so showboating like that shouldn't have happened and Greig paid a price.
Maybe he shouldn't have cross-checked and should have just pushed him, but it is what is is and I guess the suspension was warranted, although I thought it was too many games.
Anyways, the Leafs went 5-0-0 without Rielly in the line-up and it seemed to spark their season.
At the time, the Leafs were struggling and a playoff-berth wasn't guaranteed, but Rielly's actions showed the team that nobody messes with them and it turned the season around.
No. 3: Ilya Samsonov's Return to Glory
There was much debate about the Leafs starting goaltender's prior to the season and on January 1st, 2024, it looked like Ilya Samsonov may never play an NHL game again.
After struggling with a 5-2-6 record and NHL career worst in save percentage (.862 SV%) and goals against (3.94 GAA), the team put Samsonov on waivers, assigning him to the Toronto Marlies.
Samsonov would never actually play a game with the Marlies, but instead took a few weeks off to recharge and turned into a winning machine when he returned.
Once Joseph Woll got injured and Martin Jones turned into the everyday starter, it felt like this could be a season from Hell, but fortunately for everyone, Samsonov redeemed himself and looks to be the No. 1 goalie going into the playoffs.
After returning, Samsonov's stats improved, but most importantly his record improved, as he finished the campaign with a 23-7-8 record, .890 SV% and 3.13 GAA.
By returning to action and coming back to life, Samsonov was named the Leafs nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy, which recognizes the "NHL player who best exemplifies ‘sportsmanship, perseverance and dedication to hockey."
After the way the season started, it's pretty remarkable that Samsonov ended up being the team's Bill Masterton Trophy nominee, so he deserves a ton of praise for his bounce back season.
No. 4: William Nylander Contract Extension
One of the biggest storylines heading into this season was the future of Auston Matthews and William Nylander, then after Matthews signed his extension in the summer, all things shifted to Nylander.
Over the course of his career, it feels like fans have either loved or hated Nylander, so a contract extension was a hot-topic for the dynamic forward.
Prior to the season, it felt like $9M AAV was the magic number for Nylander, however after his hot-start, that number continued to rise at a drastic pace.
For the better part of the first quarter of the season, Nylander was the team's best player and his current $6.9M AAV seemed like a huge steal, so by playing at such an elite level, he cashed in with a monster contract extension.
Instead of letting Nylander's number continue to rise, or risk him leaving in the offseason, the Leafs signed Nylander to an eight-year extension worth $11M AAV, which will keep him in the organization until 2032.
That deal was much more expensive than what we expected, but it's safe to say that with a salary-cap rise, that contract will look reasonable, especially if Nylander keeps up this pace.
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With 40 goals and 98 points, Nylander finished the year as the Leafs second-best player, but unfortunately didn't score in his last eight games, so let's hope he can get back to his early-year self or there will be lots of questions about that contract, when it kicks in next year.