For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter After the announcement of a 24-team playoff Stanley Cup Playoffs, the focus of each of the 16 teams involved immediately turned to their opponent for the play-in round that will take place in late July or early August in one of the two hub cities. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished with 81 points and in third place in the Atlantic Division, but due to the standings being based on points percentage, the Leafs are ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference and will face the ninth-placed Columbus Blue Jackets in a best-of-five series. In evaluating the goaltending of the two clubs, it appears that the Leafs have a slight advantage with established starter Frederik Andersen over the Columbus tandem of Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins, but the story is a quite different one when you compare Toronto and the Blue Jackets bluelines. Both clubs will have fully healthy defensive corps after the long pause, as Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci returned to the Leafs lineup in March and Jake Muzzin is fully recovered from a hand injury blocking a shot in late April. Columbus would have likely been without Seth Jones had the playoffs begun at their normal time, but the All-Star will be back, along with Ryan Murray and Dean Kukan when the play-in round begins.
Columbus has a solid top four with Jones, Murray, veteran David Savard and Zach Werenski and depend on them to contribute offensively since they do not have a great deal of scoring up front. Werenski led all NHL defensemen with 20 goals and the Blue Jackets with 13 power-play points, while Jones led the club with more than 25 minutes per game. The bottom pairing is a hodgepodge with Russian import Vladislav Gavrikov and either Kukan, Markus Nutiivaara or former Leaf Scott Harrington.
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We discuss #NHL Return To Play Phases 2 & 3, Hub Cities, how NHL plan compares with #NBA/#MLB, the hotel front, Calder Trophy race (best D class in years) & more...https://t.co/GErRrTA9Ma