The 2021/22 NHL regular season is winding down with a handful of weeks left to play, and as the playoff picture is now clear, postseason pondering can begin for ice fans.
The Toronto Maple Leaf faithful is eager to build on their 106 points, second-place positioning from the Atlantic division, having already clinched their playoff position with one of the most impressive regular season performances.
Before Canada’s most in-form team heads into the playoffs, join us in re-capping the latest news and rumors surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Hottest Team at the Sportsbooks
Since the legalization of sports betting in Ontario, Maple Leaf fans have flocked to the sports betting window in support of their team. With current odds of +1000 to take the 2022 Stanley Cup, Toronto holds significant value, especially when they own one of the greatest hockey players on the planet.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have more or less confirmed second place in the Atlantic with an impressive 106-point haul and a 50-20-6 record. From a betting perspective, sports betting for Ontario fans has delivered highly positive results on Moneyline wagering. With a 50-20-6 record, bettors who confidently wagered on each ML line during the regular season would have lost just 26 in 76 bets.
Towards the end of the season, spread bettors would have also been wise to back the Maple Leafs, winning eight from their last 12 games ATS. Let’s not neglect total bettors who support the over, as the Ontario-based team total has gone over in 8 of their last 11 games.
With that said, the playoff picture could become a complicated set of fixtures to predict, and the only question remaining for the Maple Leafs is whether they’ll face the Lightning or Bruins in Round One. A significant positive is that the Leafs will have a home-ice advantage.
There’s no denying that Toronto is one of the most dominant teams in the league right now, with a 10-1-1 record from their previous twelve meetings, but taking on the Lightning or the Bruins will be a challenging Round One playoff game.
Toronto Maple Leafs Eliminate Their Rivals from Playoff Contention
A heated rivalry was born when the Leafs stole John Tavares, and the New York Islanders hired Lou Lamoriello after his firing in Toronto.
Initially, Lamoriello did a great job with the Islanders’ goaltending issues. Although questionable trades were made, he made the New York team seem impressive whilst the Leafs continued to struggle.
Critics of the Leafs are now eating their words as time has proven Kyle Dubas to be the superior manager.
The Islanders won’t make the 2021/22 playoffs, and the bittersweet feeling for Toronto has emerged since they were the team to eliminate New York this past Sunday.
In a cliché authoritative performance from the Leafs, they squashed the Islanders’ playoff hopes with a 4-2 success whilst breaking multiple records.
The Leafs won their 50th game for the first time in franchise history. Although it has embarrassingly taken close to 100 years to accomplish what almost every team has already done, it didn’t prevent the fans’ positivity.
In addition, the Leafs exceeded a franchise record when obtaining 106 points for the year, putting them in 3rd position from a complete NHL standings perspective.
Performing Without Their Best, Auston Matthews: Best Hockey Player in the World?
While reasons are abundant for Leafs fans to be excited, and the team’s outing versus the Islanders was a success without the presence of Auston Matthews, you can’t deny that the season has been great thanks to his skill set.
Matthews has 58 goals on the season thus far, and if he’d started every game this term, he could have easily hit 70, and minus an off-season wrist surgery, the potential of 80 goals wouldn’t have been out of his realm. There’s no denying the Leafs possess the best hockey player on the planet in Matthews, and hopefully, his fitness can return to 100% in time for the playoffs.
However, whether Matthews’s absence would take a long-term effect remains to be seen, and the Leafs can brace in solace knowing they can push past teams without their star No. 34.
“You know, we’ve had a lot of guys miss a lot of games this year, including myself, and guys have stepped up and played a bigger role, and we’ve won a lot of big games,” said the Leafs right winger Mitch Marner following the weekend game versus the Islanders. “It’s something that we always talk about – just stepping up and taking on more of the spotlight, and guys have thrived in it.”
Leafs forward, Alex Kerfoot added: “There’s going to be a lot of injuries. Every team deals with them throughout the year, and we’ve played with a bunch of different guys out throughout the course of the year. And we’ve really moved forward.”
The educational aspect this Maple Leafs team has gained this season has been critical. There’s no questioning how elite this squad is, and if everything is aligned, they could be unstoppable. The main question is what happens when plan b is required when the unexpected arrives. It’s not about how you want to win – it’s about adapting how to perform under any given circumstance.
“You look at how we’ve played, look at the results that we’ve gotten and how we’ve gotten those results – in particular against some of the top teams, and teams that we’re going to face without our division, whether it’s at home or on the road – we’ve done a good job,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, “and gotten good results.”
With their most notable players absent, the Leafs possess the elite talent as backup, and they can handle teams without the likes of Matthews whilst collecting the all-important two points. But these factors will only count if the team can reach the place they genuinely want to achieve.
“It’s a long season. It’s a grind to win a lot of games in this league. There are lots of good teams. So it’s a really cool thing to be a part of. But we’ve got bigger and better things ahead,” Kerfoot said when discussing the franchise record.
“It really means nothing if we don’t accomplish anything in the playoffs. But it is a grind in this regular season to win games, and we’ve been doing that on a pretty consistent basis.”