The The Toronto Maple Leafs had a bad summer – lost Wes Clark, blamed Sheldon Keefe for their problems, didn’t make a trade, didn’t acquire a top go have one of the best rosters in the NHL.
The Toronto Maple Leafs had a bad summer – lost Wes Clark, blamed Sheldon Keefe for their problems, didn’t make a trade, didn’t acquire a top goalie, lost Bertuzzi, and all of their improvement were of the high-risk variety.
However, that doesn’t mean they are a bad team – far from it.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are an absolute lock to make the playoffs, and they should be favorites to win the Atlantic Division.
This is because not only are all the best players on their roster returning (outside of Bertuzzi who was essentially traded for Tanev) but because they have a great combination of super-stars in their primes and up-and-coming players ready to break out.
Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander can all still get better, while the Leafs have a plethora of cheap players that could breakout and provide the kind of secondary talent they’ve never really had.
Matthews Knies, Nick Robertson, Bobby McMann, Topi Niemela, Joseph Woll, Timothy Liljegren, Easten Cowan and Fraser Minten give the Leafs at least eight players with the potential for a break-out season into star territory.
And, if Jani Hakanpaa’s contract gets cancelled (horrible signing, hopefully it does) and the Leafs can move the dead-weight off their roster, they should have a ton of money at the trade deadline to add a star player.
So, generally, things are looking good. But, with all that said, there are still more questions than answers because this team has yet to live up to it’s massive potential.
Here are the five biggest burning questions heading into the 2024-25 NHL Season.
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