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![\"Edmonton](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/661746.webp\" "\\"Edmonton")
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\nThe Anaheim Ducks stunning McDavid and the Oilers provides the exact blueprint the Maple Leafs must
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Hockey Patrol has no direct affiliation to the Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL or NHLPA<\/p>\n
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Photo credit: HockeyPatrol<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tThe Anaheim Ducks stunned Connor McDavid<\/a> and the Edmonton Oilers, and exposed the two biggest flaws that the Toronto Maple Leafs will want to study.The Anaheim Ducks have jumped to a 2-1 series lead in the first round of their playoff matchup, defeating Edmonton with a commanding 7-4 win on Saturday, Mikael Granlund<\/a>‘s four points leading the way for the Ducks.<\/p>\n What was revealed most for Anaheim on Saturday, and throughout the whole series, is the way in which the Ducks have a far more complete team than Edmonton, and despite not having a Connor McDavid, Anaheim has shown up as the better team because of it.<\/p>\n Anaheim kept their core and built speed and depth around it and the Maple Leafs have the exact same foundation to work with<\/p>\n The Anaheim Ducks have built a young roster already able to overperform, and it’s already giving<\/a> Connor McDavid headaches. With a top-five pick this draft, the Leafs have a chance to add the type of players Anaheim have built a strong group out of.<\/p>\n There is one obvious hindrance to the Leafs being able to replicate Anaheim’s recent success, and that’s a talented prospect crop.<\/p>\n Toronto has Matthew Knies<\/a> and Easton Cowan<\/a>, but if they were to keep their top-five pick, their prospect pool still lacks the necessary pieces to build around their youth in the same way that Anaheim has.However, there is one area from Anaheim that is replicatable, and that’s their ability to add talent outside of the first round, having drafted some of their key players in Lukas Dostal<\/a>, Jackson LaCombe, Drew Helleson<\/a>, & Olen Zellweger<\/a>.In fact, it’s the one floor player Anaheim drafted round one, Nathan Gaucher<\/a> in 2023, that has struggled to be an NHLer. It’s perhaps a sign to teams that a “safe” player isn’t always safe, and it may surprise how its the “risky” pick that becomes the NHLer.Under Brad Treliving<\/a>, safe and reliable were their draft methodology, more likely to draft a Gaucher than a Zellweger. The next Leafs leadership group may want to consider not the top picks Anaheim has lucked into, but what they’ve done outside of it.<\/p>\n The Ducks are beating McDavid with depth not stars and that is the piece the Maple Leafs have been missing for years<\/p>\n The Anaheim Ducks are beating the Edmonton Oilers, not with star players, but with a mix of talented youngsters and reliable veteran depth.<\/p>\n It’s a different look against the top heavy Oilers, as well as a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs that, despite their efforts, still don’t have the most serviceable of depth talent.<\/p>\n Anaheim doesn’t have a star player like McDavid or Draisaitl, their top youngsters still not at their prime, and older veterans such as Granlund and Troy Terry<\/a> the leadership for Anaheim’s locker room.<\/p>\n More on purpose is the Toronto Maple Leafs lack of prospects and young talent for the sake of being ‘win-now’. The Anaheim Ducks are proving that winning can include young stars.<\/p>\n