I’ve been meaning to write this article for a while now. After all, I’m a huge hockey fan. I grew up in Canada playing hockey. In fact, I still have my old bedroom back at my parents’ house in North Mapleton, Ontario. I used to sleep in that bed and dream of playing in the NHL. Now, I’m closer to my dream than ever before.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won the last four Stanley Cups with Auston Matthews in the lineup. With him missing a significant amount of time through injury, the Leafs have struggled. This offseason, they made some big moves to bring in some talent. They traded for William Nylander to be their next great prospect. They signed Mitch Marner to a massive eight-year deal and traded for Jake Guentzel from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Finally, they acquired Phil Kessel from the Pittsburgh Penguins in a blockbuster deal.
With all these new additions, it is clear the Leafs want to challenge for the Cup yet again. However, this year will be different. Instead of relying on past success, they will have to learn how to juggle several new balls in the air at the same time. Is this a scary thought for NHL fans?
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Biggest Changes
One of the biggest changes for the Toronto Maple Leafs this year is the addition of the forwards above. While they are all incredibly talented players, they are all completely different. For instance, Kessel is a power forward who likes to fight. Guentzel is a creative playmaker who thrives in the half-court. And then, there’s Nylander. He’s a purebred goal scorer who loves to work the puck toward the net. So, basically, these players bring a distinct element to the team. Before this year, the Leafs usually had one type of player who typically did a lot of the heavy lifting.
Another big difference in this year’s team is the lack of depth. In the past, the Leafs always had a ton of talented players who could step in and replace any injured star. This year, they don’t. Nylander, Kessel, and Marner are the only forwards who are reasonably clear to start the year. Behind them, there are a couple of depth signings who can replace some of the offense if needed.
Will This Be Better Than The Past?
The past four Stanley Cup victories for the Toronto Maple Leafs have been extremely impressive. However, these four titles were mostly built on the shoulders of past greats like Conn Smythe, Red Kelly, and Darryl Sittler. While they were incredibly valuable and important contributors, they were simply not enough to bring a championship to Toronto.
With that being said, this year’s team will be significantly better. They have upgraded their talent pool significantly. In fact, the Leafs are currently boasting the best collection of young talent in the entire league. Their future looks incredibly promising.
However, it still remains to be seen if this young talent will be enough to dethrone the dynasties of the past. There’s a quote often attributed to Wayne Gretzky that says, “You can always find room for one more, but you can’t find room for everyone.” So, while this year’s team will be significantly better than the previous versions, it is still far from perfect. For that, you’ll have to go all the way back to 2011 to find the answer.
Most Exciting Player To Watch
Apart from the fact that we are finally going to see the Toronto Maple Leafs play for the Stanley Cup for the first time in over a decade, the sport of hockey has another very exciting storyline this year. The New York Rangers will be defending their Stanley Cup title, but they won’t be doing it alone. As mentioned above, the Leafs have some incredibly talented forwards this year, but they also have some extremely bright youngsters in the form of Pavel Buchnevich and Filip Chytil. When paired with a sniper like Henrik Lundqvist, the two young forwards have the potential to be the spark the Rangers needed to bring back their championship form.
Most Unlikely Hero
While the talent level is changing for the better in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ case, there is one area where it’s significantly dropping. That would be the goalie department. Instead of boasting one of the best group of goalies in the league, the Leafs now have a couple of depth signings who will be looked at as the team’s first options if one of the established starters gets injured. However, given how poorly the team performed last season and how important good goaltending is, it still feels like a long shot they’ll be able to hold on to the Cup this year.
X-Factor
One last thing before we go. The Toronto Maple Leafs are not the only team who got significantly better this offseason. So, too, did the Carolina Hurricanes. Last year’s runner-up, the Boston Bruins, and the Minnesota Wild have all made some significant upgrades as well. So, while the Leafs won the Cup in seven games last year, the competition is certainly going to be stiffer this year. Just remember that no one factor is going to be enough to put them over the top. Instead, it’s going to take everything the team has to become a champion.