I’m not sure I’ve ever looked at a Toronto Maple Leafs season and thought there were quite this many different ways it could go. That’s partly because new general manager John Chayka has changed so much of the roster. Toronto isn’t simply bringing back last year’s team and hoping everybody stays healthy. There are new players, a new coaching staff, a different mix of forwards and a whole lot of questions.
Some of those questions are pretty exciting. Others could keep Maple Leafs fans awake at night. So maybe the best way to look at this season isn’t to ask whether the Maple Leafs will be good. It’s to ask what has to go right.
First, Auston Matthews Has to Be Auston Matthews
This is the biggest factor. Toronto can build as much depth as it wants, but Matthews is the one who can change the direction of a game. After two seasons that haven’t quite looked like the Matthews we were used to seeing, the Maple Leafs need their captain healthy and playing like a superstar again.
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
If he is healthy and productive, everything else becomes easier. If he’s not, questions about the team’s direction will get much louder.
Second, the New Players Have to Fit
This is where Chayka’s summer gets really interesting. Toronto has added a bunch of players who aren’t necessarily household names but appear to have specific jobs. The bottom six is bigger, faster and more experienced. The idea seems to be that the Maple Leafs don’t need every player to be a star. They need the pieces to fit together.
That’s a bit of a chemistry experiment. If players like Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, Brandon Duhaime, and the rest of the new group understand their roles and make Toronto harder to play against, Chayka will look pretty smart. If they don’t, we’re going to spend a lot of time asking why the roster changed so much.
Third, the Wild Cards Could Decide Everything
Then we get to the fun stuff. Sergei Bobrovsky doesn’t have to be the goalie he was five years ago. He simply has to give Toronto reliable goaltending. If he does, that changes the entire conversation.
Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers makes a save on Tomas Hertl of the Vegas Golden Knights.
(Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)
Gavin McKenna doesn’t have to become Connor McDavid overnight, either. But if the young forward looks like a genuine difference-maker immediately, suddenly Toronto has something it hasn’t had in a long time: another potential superstar coming through the door.
And then there’s Darren Raddysh. Maybe the late-blooming defenceman’s breakout wasn’t a one-year accident. Maybe Toronto has found another useful piece. That’s a lot of “maybes.” But that’s also what makes this season so interesting.
The Maple Leafs’ Best-Case Scenario
There is a legitimate best-case scenario here. Matthews stays healthy. Bobrovsky gives them quality goaltending. McKenna, the first-overall pick from this year’s draft, looks like the real thing. The new depth forwards fit. The defence settles down. New head coach Jim Hiller gets the system working.
Put all of that together, and the Maple Leafs could be one of the NHL’s great redemption stories this season. Of course, the opposite is possible, too. If Matthews struggles, the new players don’t fit, Bobrovsky looks his age and McKenna needs time to develop, questions will come quickly. And if that happens, the second half of the season could become less about a playoff push and more about what Toronto does with the next era of the franchise.
There’s a Strange Yin and Yang to the Maple Leafs This Season
That’s the strange thing about these Maple Leafs. I don’t think the middle ground will be particularly interesting. The team could be much better than people expect. Or it could be starting over. And somehow, both possibilities make sense.
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