The Maple Leafs shouldn’t be eager to bring back each of the core four

I get it, and it makes sense, but the Maple Leafs shouldn’t try to bring back all of the core four.
For nearly four years, Toronto has set the team on a path forward with Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander leading the way. Through the narrow windings of the Maple Leafs’ trail, the core-four has helped guide this team to an unfound spot on the map.
After defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, there was an inkling as though Toronto had been approaching the promised land. A place where the grass was as green as ever, where the sun was shining as bright as ever, and where it felt like absolutely nothing could go wrong.
Except three days later, Toronto had found themselves being approached by the Florida Panthers, who encircled the Maple Leafs and attacked until there was no life left.
Not even two weeks after fireworks rang off at the intersection of York and Bremner, the team that once thought they had found the promised land ended up actually falling to a darker place.
The sun wasn’t shining. The birds weren’t chirping. And the one person, who’d built the team that thought they found paradise, was sent packing, looking for a new tribe to jo …

Read More

Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

Why we’re still hopelessly optimistic about the Maple Leafs following Game 1

What a difference a round makes. After the 7-3 loss in Game 1 of the first round, many people were already making plans for May away from hockey and the talk was that we might have seen the last of Michael Bunting in a Leafs jersey. That ended up working out, and so help me, I don’t think the 4-2 loss to the Panthers require a forensic audit either.
The biggest difference in Game 1 was goaltending. Like against Tampa, Samsonov didn’t have his best outing to start the series. That’s fine. The guy is allowed the occasional off night, even in the playoffs. The catch was that as much as the Leafs forwards pushed late in the game, Sergei Bobrovsky was busy being the guy who earned the $10M AAV contract, not the guy who has been cashing the cheques for the past few seasons. Given that he is now on his first four game win streak of the season it can play out in one of two ways, he continues on a goaltending heater that leads to the Panthers …

Read More

Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Could past chemistry yield current success on the Leafs 4th line?

Could past chemistry yield current success on the Leafs 4th line?

What makes a great forward line? Regardless of which line it is, chemistry is imperative. Understanding strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies will certainly lead to a higher chance of successfully contributing.
It’s difficult to learn these things in training camp, with multiple line combinations being assessed, and players being thrown into different groups, on different wings, and in different scenarios.
Perhaps familiarity is where a coaching staff should start. It’s why we shall see Bunting-Matthews-Marner to start the year. Below them, there are question marks. John Tavares will miss the Leafs opener, which leaves only Nylander as an obvious 2nd liner. Engvall will also miss the opener, leaving yet another hole up front.
Looking at the rest of the forward group, there doesn’t appear to be much familiarity. Kampf is a lock at centre, and the remaining wingers haven’t spent much time, if any, on his line. Dig a little deeper, however, and you might find a couple of new Leafs that have in fact played together.
Zach Aston Reese (ZAR), who is currently on a PTO, went undrafted before he attended Northeastern University and played 4 years for the Huskies. During his time in the NCAA, he made the Hockey East All-Star team twice (one 1st Team, and one 2nd Team). He was a Hobey Baker nominee (the most outstanding NCAA Division 1 p …

Read More

Author: Bennett Jull / The Leafs Nation