The Toronto Maple Leafs are second in the Atlantic Division right now, proving that they should once again be a playoff team, but are they a Stanley Cup contender?
Even with the absence of Auston Matthews, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been successful, at least by the results. Although their 3-0 loss against the Ottawa Senators might have been the worst game this team has ever played, and they went about five games with only one 5v5 goal, at least their (mostly) winning.
The goaltender combination of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll is working out, while Mitch Marner looks like a top-five player in the NHL when Matthews isn't on his line. It's funny that Marner looks better without a star beside him, which continues to prove that you should never play two franchise players on the same line.
Matthews has been ruled out for tonight's game, but hopefully when he comes back the Leafs realize this and make smarter lines.
Tonight's game is against the Oilers, and kicks off a huge set of games, with four major games coming in a six game span. Those four games will be against the following teams: Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Four of the next six games will determine Toronto Maple Leafs fate
If you were to tell me that any of those four team's won the Stanley Cup at year's end, I wouldn't be surprised. Two of those four teams (Florida and Edmonton) played for the Stanley Cup last year, while Vegas won the championship in 2023 and Tampa Bay went to three straight Finals from 2020-22.
These four team's are arguably the best four teams in the NHL and if the Leafs can't hang with them, it will show that they're not ready for the playoffs.
The Leafs are a good team, but we don't know if they're a great team. Even with all four stars playing great hockey, the goalies and Rielly/Tanev/McCabe all contributing solidly, this team is woefully thin at centre and has no high-end defenseman.
If the Leafs can show well against this stretch of top teams, it will indicate that their weaknesses are not as big as we fear, and could actually give management the incentive to address them in-season, something they refused to do last year.
However, if this is the same team we just saw against the Ottawa Senators, then we're in big trouble and we may as well start talking about the 2025 UFA class.