Depending on what happened last night - this was written and submitted ahead of time - the Toronto Maple Leafs season could be hovering over the danger zone with disaster, potentially, imminent.
If Calgary beat the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, then the Leafs have lost five of their last six games and everyone is on the verge of panic. However, even in a worst case scenario, things are not that bad because the Leafs are still guaranteed to make the playoffs, and once there, anything can happen.
The Leafs have tried to win the Stanley Cup as one of the league's top teams. It hasn't worked out. Maybe what they need to do is skid into the playoffs on the verge of total collapse and then have some fun playing under no pressure while everyone expects them to lose.
The most likely situation isn't quite that dire, but I'm just trying to say that even were that to come to pass, the Leafs still warrant optimism. Here's why:
The Toronto Maple Leafs could still go on a magical run - Reasons for Optimism
The Toronto Maple Leafs may not have the kind of team that clinically dismantles all opponents and makes other teams alter their plans to avoid having to face them.
But what they do have is three franchise players and one of the best goalies in the NHL.
Now, should Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, or some combination of the three, go off on a hot streak at the right time, and if this so happens to coincide with Anthony Stolarz getting hot, then the Leafs will be close to unbeatable.
Ideally, you would like to have a team that relentlessly comes at opponents and makes the most of having three franchise players all in their primes at the same time. Ideally, the Leafs would be the league's top team and would be entering the playoffs as the top seed.
That isn't likely to be the case, but it honestly doesn't matter.
I think that given the Playoff Demons that obviously haunt this team, home-ice advantage against a weaker team might be the worst possible thing for them. Better to give them no chance, force them to run a ridiculous gauntlet and expect nothing from them.
So while I'm not cheering against home-ice advantage, I suspect that the Leafs best shot to win is as a surprise team that everyone else has already written off. I think that a Wild Card team that features Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and one of the best goalies in the world has the potential to constantly surprise.
Again, it would be nice if the new Trade Deadline additions helped the Leafs cruise into home-ice advantage and the Atlantic Division title, but I suspect this team will shine best as a scrappy underdog and that regardless of how the final weeks of the regular season play out, we should be optimistic about their chances.