Planted Seeds: Leafs Future looks bright after Playoff Exit

On Wednesday Night, the 2nd Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs got underway with 2 Games in the Western Conference.

The Nashville Predators got a 3 Point Night from PK Subban to defeat the St. Louis Blues 4-3 in Game 1 of their series.

Leon Draisaitl picked up a Goal and 3 Assists to lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 5-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 1 of their Playoff Series in the West.

On Thursday Night, the 2 Second Round Series in the NHL’s Eastern Conference will get underway.

The Ottawa Senators will host the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their series while the Washington Capitals will host the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1st Game of a Playoff Rematch from last year which saw the Penguins get past the Capitals in 6 Games.

Here’s a trivia question for you.

Who did the Washington Capitals eliminate in the 1st Round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs?

If you answered the New Jersey Devils, please subject yourself to a Drug Test by the United States Anti-Doping Agency immediately.

Here’s a hint, it’s a Canadian Team. Sorry but it’s not the Montreal Canadiens since they were ousted by the New York Rangers in Round 1 of this year’s Playoffs.

The correct answer is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On Sunday Night, the Maple Leafs were eliminated from the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the President’s Trophy winning Capitals by a score of 2-1 in Game 6 with Marcus Johansson picking up the Overtime winner.

The loss marked the end of an improbable journey for the Maple Leafs who had low expectations when the puck dropped on Opening Night last October.

The defeat might’ve been disappointing for some but it led to talk about the future being brighter for a club that had been the butt of many jokes among Hockey Fans for a long time.

There are a few reasons why the future is bright for the most talked about Pro Sports Team in Canada.

Here are some reasons why the Leafs Future is in good hands.

The Great Players Upfront

All conversations regarding the Leafs over the past 6 months have been about the great group of forwards upfront which is in due part to the youth they have.

This core is led by a 19 Year Old named Auston Matthews who had everyone in the Hockey World talking with his debut that saw him score 4 Goals in a 5-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators in the Season Opener on October 12th.

Matthews ended up setting Franchise Records for Rookies with 40 Goals and 69 Points which were previously held by Wendel Clark and Peter Ihnacek respectively since the high scoring 1980’s.

The 1st Overall Pick in last summer’s NHL Draft who is expected to win the Calder Trophy carried his play into the Postseason with 4 Goals and an Assist to go along with a 54.5% Corsi at 5 on 5 in the 6 Game Series and he adds that he wants to improve his speed next year.

Mitch Marner also turned heads as well with 61 Points thanks to 42 Assists which is also a Franchise Record among Rookies.

The 4th Overall Pick in the 2015 NHL Draft was a great centre for Tyler Bozak and James Van Riemsdyk over the course of the season as those veteran Leafs ended up setting career highs in Points respectively.

The soon to be 20 Year Old had 4 Points in the Playoffs but could be even scarier next season as he puts on some muscle over the summer.

The likes of William Nylander and Connor Brown turned heads as well.

Nylander finished with 22 Goals and 39 Assists for 61 Points in 81 Games which included a Hat Trick against the Boston Bruins on Super Bowl Weekend.

The 20 Year Old Swede scored the tying goal in Game 3 of the Leafs series against the Capitals which Toronto ended up winning 4-3 in Overtime.

Brown in the meantime chipped in with 20 Goals with many of them being timely.

His goal in the 2nd last game of the season helped the Leafs clinch a Playoff Spot with a win over the Penguins.

The Leafs have a great core of young forwards that will be scaring NHL Goaltenders for years to come.

Stability between the Pipes

Between 2004 and 2016, the Maple Leafs had a lot of instability between the pipes.

Goaltending was a huge question mark for the Hockey Club.

Since Ed Belfour’s departure, the Leafs have tried to find a saviour between the pipes.

The likes of Andrew Raycroft, Vesa Toskala, Jonas Gustavsson, J.S. Giguere, James Reimer, and Jonathan Bernier were given the throne of Number 1 Goalie in Toronto but they all lacked consistency which made the Leafs miss the Playoffs on a Constant Basis.

Fast forward to now, the Leafs might’ve found the Number 1 Goalie that they’ve been looking for.

On June 20th last year, the Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off a trade with the Anaheim Ducks that saw the Leafs send a 1st Round Pick in the 2016 NHL Draft previously acquired from Pittsburgh in the Phil Kessel Trade (Ducks selected Sam Steel with that pick) and a 2nd Round Pick in the 2017 NHL Draft to the Ducks for Frederik Andersen who had been splitting duties in Goal with John Gibson.

Some were skeptical about the Leafs decision to acquire Andersen considering the acquisitions of Toskala, Giguere, and Bernier from California Teams in the past.

The 27 Year Old from Denmark got off to a shaky start with the Leafs as he allowed 4 or more Goals in Four of his First 5 Starts with the Leafs.

Andersen settled down and managed to finish with a 33-16-14 record in 66 Games with a .918 Save Percentage, 2.67 Goals Against Average, 4 Shutouts, and a .576 Quality Starts Percentage which is impressive considering the Leafs Defence wasn’t the greatest for most stretches over the course of the season.

The man known to fans as Freddie was fine in the Playoffs as he finished with a 2.68 GAA, .915 Save Percentage, and .600 Quality Starts Percentage in the 6 Game defeat against Washington.

The Leafs won’t have to worry about finding a Number 1 Goalie for sometime as the Great Dane is under contract through the 2020-21 Season thanks to a 5-Year Deal worth $25 Million signed last summer.

Great Front Office and Mike Babcock as Head Coach

On April 14th, 2014, the Toronto Maple Leafs were coming off a late season collapse that saw them miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

That day, the Leafs introduced Brendan Shanahan as their new President.

One of Shanahan’s first big moves was the hiring of Kyle Dubas as their Assistant General Manager.

After the Leafs fell apart during the 2014-15 Season, Shanahan got the go ahead for a rebuild.

He fired Dave Nonis as General Manager and then helped deal a player named Phil Kessel to the Penguins.

The Former Head of NHL Player Safety who had a Hall Of Fame career as a Player lured Lou Lamoriello from the New Jersey Devils to be their General Manager in July 2015.

Lamoriello managed to deal Dion Phaneuf’s contract without retaining any salary to the Ottawa Senators to help with the Leafs efforts to finish last in 2015-16 which helped them get the 1st Overall Pick in the NHL Draft.

He also created a place called Robidas Island by placing Joffrey Lupul and his $5.25 Million Cap Hit on long term IR along with Stephane Robidas and his $3 Million Cap Hit while burying the contracts of Milan Michalek, Brooks Laich, and Colin Greening in the Minors.

The most important aspect of the Leafs Rebuild was the hiring of Mike Babcock as their Head Coach.

Babcock said that there was going to be Pain in his introduction to the Toronto Media in May 2015.

There was definitely some pain in 2015-16 as the Leafs finished 30th in the NHL with 69 Points.

This season was a far different story as Babcock helped turn the Leafs from a Basement Dweller to a club that team’s would shake their boots for.

The Leafs saw a 26 Point improvement thanks to a 40-27-15 record in 2016-17 and lots of the credit went to Babcock.

On Wednesday, the soon to be 54 Year Old McGill Grad was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL Coach of The Year along with Todd McLellan of the Edmonton Oilers and John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Babcock, Shanahan, Lamoriello, and Dubas along with Mark Hunter are starting to build a great program with the Maple Leafs that hopes to be the envy of all NHL clubs in the the years to come.

*****

The Maple Leafs have some work to do this off-season.

They have to shore up the defence core that looked shaky at times this season.

They also have to give extensions to RFA’s Connor Brown and Zach Hyman while trying to re-sign Brian Boyle who gave them some help in the faceoff department after being acquired for Byron Froese before the Trade Deadline in a deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Leafs have to also answer the question regarding their Backup Goaltender with Curtis McIlhinney an Unrestricted Free Agent.

Do they re-sign McIlhinney or do they give Garret Sparks a shot at the gig after a solid season with the Toronto Marlies?

Another big question regarding the Leafs this off-season is who will they expose in the Expansion Draft with the Vegas Golden Knights coming into the league next fall?

All in All, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot to look forward to next season.

They have a great core led by Matthews, Marner, and Nylander.

They have a stud between the pipes in Andersen.

Finally, they have a great front office and head coach that can be trusted.

The Leafs Stanley Cup Drought might be at 50 Years but they’re a lot closer to being Stanley Cup Contenders now than they were at this time last year.

This year’s Playoff Appearance has planted the seeds for plenty of success down the road in the Centre Of The Universe known as Toronto in regards to their beloved Maple Leafs Hockey Club.

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