Are the Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup contenders?

[jackjohnson]

Yes or no and also if you want why?

Leafs are in year #8 of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Year #6 of prized UFA signing John Tavares. Since the beginning of the 2019-20 season they have the 4th most points of any team in the NHL. Those kind of results speak for themselves, Toronto clearly has a very good hockey team. But are they capable of winning the ultimate prize?

Is this a rhetorical question? Everyone knows its a no lol

 

[johnnybbadd]

I think that to be considered a contender a team has to look at how they match up in their division. Right now it looks like the Leafs are locked in to play Florida or Boston in the 1st round. I wouldn’t call them favourites with either of those teams in a 7 game series. Trades will be made but the Leafs are pretty thin on draft capital to make a real big impact unless they are breaking up their core.

 

[DKH]

Leafs may not make playoffs with that goaltending

They are just crazy enough to add offense at deadline

 

[John Mandalorian]

They have a punchers chance but not as strong as some teams.

 

[kylbaz]

Yes they are

If they get a new coach, get a goalie, get 2nd and 3rd pairing defensemen that are actually NHL level. a 3C....

fix those things and they are a contender.

Agree. Teams like that don't win the Stanley Cup. After several years of failing, you'd think the front office would see and make significant changes but they don't. They just keep running it out there hoping something will magically change. That's the definition of insanity. If they fail this year, where do they go from here? Resign Nylander at $10m? Let him walk? How do you fix your terrible D? Too many holes. Same as Oilers.
That being said anything can happen in the playoffs. Get on a roll and Matthews gets even hotter, you never know.

 

[Enga Olly]

get upset all you like but im not wrong. They are a top heavy team that has trouble in the back end. When scoring goes down in the playoffs like it aways does they will be in trouble like every year.

and you care why? Leafs D is the worst then it has been in 4 years. We actually were very good the past few years - like comfortably in the top 8 but haters always talked shit about how bad we were defensively. It goes to credibility. Haters such as yourself have none. when we were great defensively last year, you all said the same thing as this year. Currently we're not as good defensively still better than whatever team you cheer for. How do I know? Because you are concerned enough to comment - I couldn't care less for whatever team you cheer for. Their failures don't concern me - yet here you are devoting time to the Leafs. If we were so irrelevant and a non-factor you wouldn't pay us any mind.

 

[jcs0218]

Currently, the Maple Leafs have a large amount of "loser points" that is giving them an artificially high place in the standings.

In the playoffs, "loser points" mean nothing. The only thing that losing in overtime in the playoffs means is that you lost the game and that you are getting closer to being eliminated.

 

[sinDer]

They are barely playoffs contenders.

 

[antiqueslivers]

can you even hope to build a deep enough team to win the cup when 3 of your forwards eat up 40.2% of your total cap??

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

Never a contender since 1967. Always exposed as a fraud and pretender.

 

[34]

They have one single nhl dman, so no

Better to have 1 than none like the Oilers.

 

[dalewood12]

It comes back to the Tavares contract. They could have signed an elite D or G.

 

[jcs0218]

It comes back to the Tavares contract. They could have signed an elite D or G.

Or even used the Tavares money to sign 2-3 good players to improve their depth and/or make their team more versatile and diverse (for example, have more sandpaper in their top 6 forwards).

Matthews, Marner, and Nylander were enough offensive-first players. Tavares was redundant and not a good use of salary-cap space.

 

[NikolaTesla]

Or even used the Tavares money to sign 2-3 good players to improve their depth and/or make their team more versatile and diverse (for example, have more sandpaper in their top 6 forwards).

Matthews, Marner, and Nylander were enough offensive-first players. Tavares was redundant and not a good use of salary-cap space.

Easy to say in hindsight after Nylander developped into a star, something nobody could have predicted in my opinion.

 

[Matty Sundin]

We don’t even look like an underachieving first round choke team this year. We look like a first round filler team at best.

 

[BruinsFan37]

No.

To be legit top tier contenders the Leafs need:

A better-than-average goalie (doesn't need to great just above average), that will get hot at the right time (the worse the goalie the longer "hot streak" you need).

More than one, maybe two top-level defensemen.

---

To solve this problem(s), I foresee the Leafs trading Morgan Reilly and TJ Brodie for Connor McDavid and a bag of pucks.

 

[jcs0218]

Easy to say in hindsight after Nylander developped into a star, something nobody could have predicted in my opinion.

Even if Nylander stayed at a 60-70 point player, that is good enough for your 3rd best offensive weapon.

It is better to add diversity and versatility to the roster.

You surround Matthews, Marner, and a 60-70 point Nylander with a couple of Hymans plus a top 4 defensemen, then you have more depth and more different types of players.

The teams that win the Stanley Cup are teams that can win in many different ways other than just trying to outscore their opponents.

Dubas thought that Tavares, Matthews, Marner, and Nylander were this generation's Gretzky-Messier-Kurri-Anderson or Lemieux-Francis-Jagr-Stevens.

He was very mistaken.

 

[Killer Orcas]

Goaltending will stop any hope of them passing the 2nd round if they even make that far. Scoring can cover up just so much.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Easy to say in hindsight after Nylander developped into a star, something nobody could have predicted in my opinion.

Cop out. It’s not as if the big three weren’t high draft picks. In Nylander case, his father was an NHL player. Why would it be a surprise he has/had talent?

 

[jackjohnson]

Even if Nylander stayed at a 60-70 point player, that is good enough for your 3rd best offensive weapon.

It is better to add diversity and versatility to the roster.

You surround Matthews, Marner, and a 60-70 point Nylander with a couple of Hymans plus a top 4 defensemen, then you have more depth and more different types of players.

The teams that win the Stanley Cup are teams that can win in many different ways other than just trying to outscore their opponents.

Dubas thought that Tavares, Matthews, Marner, and Nylander were this generation's Gretzky-Messier-Kurri-Anderson or Lemieux-Francis-Jagr-Stevens.

He was very mistaken.

Cant win with no D or goalie and everything invested in forwards like Oilers.

 

[Oilslick941611]

Leafs may not make playoffs with that goaltending

They are just crazy enough to add offense at deadline

I haven’t looked at the east standings much this year, but i was surprised to see that Leafs are almost not in a playoff spot And are 3-4-3 in their last 10. Yikes.

 

[pekka55]

I don't see them as contenders with the goaltending and defence they currently have. Their goals against is bottom 10 in the league. I mean anything can happen in the playoffs, but it's almost impossible to run and gun your way to the cup nowadays.

 

[pb1300]

They never have to me. They don’t have what it takes to make a long Cup run. Their top players don’t have the balls to do what is absolutely necessary to win. What is it that they say now, no one has that “dog” in him on that team.

This game is so mental, especially in the playoffs, and they are just not mentally tough enough either. They would need a Hasek level goalie to “carry” them.

After watching what Florida had to do to get to the Finals, I don’t think Toronto is capable of doing that.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Steve Dangle is very upset.

 

[jcs0218]

The Maple Leafs are going to have to start playing better or else they will feel the wrath of John Tavares in the dressing room.