Why I Fully Expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to Win the Atlantic This Year
The Toronto Maple Leafs will win home ice advantage in the first round, finally.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are due for some luck, and they also have one of the best rosters in the NHL.
Which means, the Toronto Maple Leafs will finally do what we've been expecting for years now:
Win the Atlantic Division and compete seriously for a Stanley Cup.
This is their years, and I'll tell you why.
Why I Fully Expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to Win the Atlantic This Year
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a bad summer, but mostly because they made some potentially bad bets and their management team has no clue how to manage risk vs reward.
But despite the fact that Chris Tavev, Joseph Woll and Oliver Ekman Larsson were high risk moves unlikely to pay off, the Leafs were already set up for success that has nothing to do with Brad Treliving.
Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson and Easton Cowan, not to mention Bobby McMann, Pontus Holmberg, Timothy Liljegren and Topi Niemela should all start contributing on cheap deals.
If Joseph Woll is healthy he might win the Vezina Trophy.
Tavares and Reilly remain very good, if not elite, and Nylander, Marner and Matthews are all in their primes, and still have another gear.
And that is why the Leafs will win this year. It's the perfect storm of youth and superstar franchise players in their prime.
Plus, they can't get horribly unlucky every single year.
I'm not going to get into that, but I will say that Tampa, Boston, Florida and Carolina are all worse than they have been in years. The up-and-comers, like Buffalo and Ottawa aren't likely quite at the Leafs level yet, and so it's their best chance since they were in the all-Canadian division.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils will be the class of the east next year, but New Jersey is in the Metro, so the Leafs have nothing to worry about.
The Atlantic Division will finally be theirs.
And that is extremely important because if you have to play a top team in the first round, it's best to have home ice advantage.
People doubt the Leafs because they have disappointed in the past, but this leads to them being laughably underrated.
The fact is, Auston Matthews guarantees them a playoff spot and having Marner and Nylander means they should blow by the wild card race unless they have an incredibly unlucky season.
The Leafs might just have the best roster in the NHL. The only question is if they can stay healthy. Matthews has only been healthy in one of the last four playoffs. Chris Tanev is 34. John Tavares is 33. Joseph Woll is held together with staples and duct tape.
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Still, this will be their year. It will be a Matthews vs McDavid Stanley Cup Final, but along the way, the Toronto Maple Leafs will win the Atlantic Division.