3 Maple Leafs hot takes for he upcoming season
With NHL training camps just around the corner, we are on the home stretch of the summer and have less than 60 days to cross off on the calendar until the 2023-24 season begins.
The new season will bring about new expectations for all 32 NHL teams, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a team who has higher expectations placed upon them than the Toronto Maple Leafs, who once again fell short in 2022-23, being dominated in the 2nd round by the Florida Panthers after dispatching of the Tampa Bay Lighting in 6 games during round 1.
As our curiosity begins to rise ahead of the season, there is plenty to consider with the Leafs and all of the "what ifs" before the season gets under way and today, I felt as though it would be fun to provide a couple of hot takes for this year's team. As we all know, with hot takes, these scenarios are not likely to come to fruition, but every season we see some pretty wild things occur. Take last year, for example. I don't think anyone saw Jason Robertson finishing in the top-6 in NHL scoring. Similarly, I don't think anyone could have predicted that Erik Karlsson would score 101 points. Raise your hand if you had predicted last summer that Carter Verhaeghe would score more goals than Auston Matthews in 2022-23. Nobody? That's what I thought. So with that, here are my 3 Leafs hot takes ahead of the 2023-24 season.
1. Nick Robertson plays in all 82 games and scores 35 goals
We know that the 2019 2nd round pick has had a tough time remaining healthy. We also know that Robertson has a lethal shot in his arsenal. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to see it with any real frequency due to the time he has spent on the shelf.
The younger brother of Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson, we know that there are good hockey genes there for Nick. If he can remain healthy for his first full 82-game season, and that's a hot take in and of itself, he'll have every opportunity to become a difference-maker for this Leafs team. Scoring 35 goals in his first full season is a whole other layer of spice for this hot take, but it's certainly possible. We saw Robertson score over a goal per game in his final OHL season, tallying 55 goals in 46 games with the Peterborough Petes in 2019-20. Granted, the NHL is a whole different challenge. Robertson has just 3 goals across 31 games in his young NHL career, so to suggest that he'll come out and score 35 goals in 82 games this season, it's certainly a reach. However, as hot as this hot take seems, I still think there's a slim chance that he shocks us all and does it.
2. Joseph Woll finishes the season as the Leafs' #1 goaltender and is their go-to guy for Game 1 of the playoffs
This one may not be as hot of a take as the Robertson one, but it's still pretty hot. Joseph Woll has just 11 games of NHL experience under his belt. Yes, the expectations are high for him this season, but only because he has shown nothing but poise and a high level of skill during his first 11 games, posting a .932 SV% across 7 games last season and a .924 SV% overall.
Ilya Samsonov was excellent for the Leafs at home in 2022-23, but not nearly as solid on the road. Meanwhile, Woll posted excellent numbers both at home and on the road in 2022-23. Granted, his sample size was much smaller at just 7 games, but Woll posted a .927 SV% and a 2.38 GAA in 3 starts at home and a .935 SV% and a 2.00 GAA in 4 starts on the road.
If the Leafs have any inkling that Samsonov may not wish to sign an extension and remain in Toronto beyond this season, they could very well look to pass the torch to Woll and increase his workload exponentially, phasing Samsonov out.
3. Auston Matthews scores 70 goals this season
Last season, we saw the best player on the planet fail to hit 70 goals, even though he was quite literally shooting the lights out all season. Connor McDavid put up 64 goals and 153 points in 82 games and while he's probably a lock to win another Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer, I think he and Matthews push each other to their limits in the Rocket Richard Trophy race with Matthews hitting 70 goals and McDavid hitting 68.
70 goals in 82 games is an absurd number of goals, to be sure. It's borderline impossible in today's NHL. However, just a pair of seasons ago, we witnessed Matthews score 51 goals in a 50-game span. That hasn't been done many times in NHL history, so if there's anyone who can score 70 in the modern NHL, it's Matthews.
Last season, something wasn't quite right with Auston. He had dealt with wrist, knee and back/oblique injuries, which ultimately hampered his ability to perform at the level at which we're used to seeing him perform. Last year, Matthews came into the season following offseason wrist surgery, which certainly had an impact on him. He started relatively slow as a result and couldn't quite replicate his results from the previous season. This year, coming into camp fully healthy and without having to rehab a surgically repaired wrist, I like Matthews' chances of returning to form, scoring at will and winning his 3rd Rocket Richard Trophy in the last 4 years.
So, those are my hot takes. Depending on how well this is received by readers, I may continue on with this series throughout the remainder of this summer and do up some more of these, just for kicks. Patience, Leafs Nation, we only have 57 more days to kill before the season begins and a little over a month until training camps get under way!
| POLL | ||
AOUT 14 | 304 ANSWERS 3 Maple Leafs hot takes for he upcoming season Of these 3 hot takes, which is the most likely to actually happen for the Leafs? | ||
| Robertson scores 35 goals, plays all 82 games | 19 | 6.3 % |
| Matthews scores 70, wins another Rocket | 92 | 30.3 % |
| Joseph Woll takes over as Leafs' number 1 goalie | 193 | 63.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
