The Toronto Maple Leafs all-time scoring list is about to change dramatically.
The most significant change will happen within the Toronto Maple Leafs top five, which hasn't seen any change since 2008.
The Leafs current top-five in points is Mats Sundin at the top with 987 points. Darryl Sittler, who has 916 points, sits in second place. Dave Keon is in third place with 858 points. Fourth place belongs to Borje Salming with 768 points. Rounding out the top five is George Armstrong, with 713 points.(All stats from hockey-reference.com)
But all that is about to change in the upcoming season.
The Reshaping of Toronto Maple Leafs All-Time Scoring List
Sitting 64 points behind Armstrong in sixth place is Auston Matthews with 649 points.
Matthews could register 65 goals this season, let alone points. However, Matthews is not the only current Leafs with a shot of replacing Armstrong.
Mitch Marner is currently eighth on the all-time list with 639 points. It won't take him long to move into seventh as he is one point behind Ron Ellis (640 points).
Matthews registered 107 points last season. With another 100-point season, he will be 19 points behind Salming. Registering 119 points seems like a stretch for Matthews, but I've learned never to doubt him.
For Marner, passing Salming this season is probably not an option, as he'd need to have a 130 point season to do so, but it's within the realm of possibility. Passing Armstrong (with 75 points) is automatic as long as he stays healthy.
It's safe to say that the Leafs have a talented group of forwards entering their prime years. Not only is Matthews climbing towards the top of the all-time scoring list, but Marner is not far behind him.
At the moment, Marner has no contract beyond this season, and as we have said is unlikely to crack the top five this year. If he re-signs, however, it's all but a guarantee that he eventually will. (Contract info from puckpedia.com)
Not too far behind Marner on the all-time list is William Nylander sitting in 13th place with 528 points. With 36 points this season, Nylander will join the Leafs top-ten on the all-time scoring list.
If Nylander registers 70 points, he'll move into ninth on the all-time list. Nylander has three more seasons on his contract after this season, so it won't be long before he's in the top five with Matthews and likely Marner.
The Leafs not winning a championship with this group is frustrating for all of us, but we should take pleasure in watching these three players.
All three of them could one day be in the Leafs top five. The fact that we get to watch all three players at the same time is incredible, no matter how frustrating it can be at times.