With just two sleeps until puck drop, Maple Leafs fans are having trouble keeping their composure as they wait eagerly for the season to begin. It’s been an offseason of optimism with high hopes and visions of another playoff run, potentially a deep one.
There’s been some concern about the Leafs defense over the summer and rightfully so as it was certainly the weakness of the team last season. Management added a few potential fill-ins when they recruited both Andreas Borgman and Calle Rosen from Sweden. There was an opportunity for Travis Dermott to demonstrate his skill and progress to the Leafs coaching staff as they gave him a decent look in preseason.
Ron Hainsey was added to the Leafs defense and looks to be slotted with Morgan Rielly as the Leafs top shutdown pairing. They each have a different approach to the game and it seems to be faring well for the Leafs veteran Hainsey and most notable defender in Rielly. The Leafs will be relying heavily on this pairing to make things easier for Frederik Andersen.
Andersen will be entering his second season with the Leafs and looks to build off his numbers and take the team to the playoffs for their second straight birth. It hasn’t been since 2002-2004 that the Leafs made the post season two years in a row. Andersen played in 66 games last season and ended up going 33-16-14. He finished the regular season with a .918 save percent and 2.67 goals against average. When the Leafs played the Capitals in the playoffs Freddie was phenomenal even if his stats don’t match the performance, he had a .915 save percent and 2.68 goals against average.
It’s the Leafs offense which is the engine of this machine. Matthews is the game changer and Nylander and Marner are no slouch, that’s just the sugar on top though. The Buds have a deep offense and players like Kadri, JVR and Marleau are secondary when it comes to offensive talent. The Leafs then have players like Bozak, Komarov, Brown and Hyman for secondary offense. Both Miro Aaltonen and Dominic Moore look more than capable of doing a great job at centering the fourth line and Matt Martin is one of the best fourth line players in the NHL. The Leafs are set up front, they will have Kapanen getting hungry in the AHL and Leivo will likely be in the press box until there are injuries, someone is ill or Babcock is looking to shuffle the deck.
The Leafs should be the real deal this season and that is a good feeling as us fans prepare for a big one on the road Wednesday night against the Winnipeg Jets.
Predictions:
-Frederik Andersen sets a franchise record for most goalie wins in the regular season. -Maple Leafs place second in the Atlantic Division. -Auston Matthews scores 44 goals and ends up with 84 points. -Morgan Rielly has a career season with 39 points. -Maple Leafs make it to the Conference Finals.
The season is just around the corner, have a great week and be sure to dust off your jerseys for game one on Wednesday.
Thanks for reading.