Twelve Leafs players had career years; is this a sign of the success yet to come?
Twelve Maple Leafs have set a new career-high in points this season, celebrating some individual success to go along with the team's success. Some usual suspects and some new acquisitions have really found their groove on the ice.
Forwards Auston Matthews (106 pts), Mitch Marner (97 pts), William Nylander (78 pts), Michael Bunting (63 pts), Alexander Kerfoot (51 pts), Pierre Engvall (33 pts), Ilya Mikheyev (31 pts), and David Kämpf (26 pts) have enjoyed the spoils of the season allowing the Leafs to become one of the highest goal-scoring teams in the East.
Meanwhile, defenseman Timothy Liljegren (22 pts), Justin Holl (22 pts), Rasmus Sandin (16 pts), and Ilya Lyubushkin (15 pts) have really chipped in when given the opportunity, especially on the rush, to propel their point totals to new heights.
With the offensive front the leafs employ, and have had since 2016, it's extremely exciting to see the stars, depth and defense outperform their previous highs, especially in a season chock-full of bad injury luck. This bodes well for the playoffs, but also, the constant improvement for the future as it suggests the Leafs "big three" of Matthews, Marner, and Nylander still have room to become even better.
Sprinkle in the beefier blue-line, young talent of Liljegren/Sandin and the Leafs look to be set up at some key positions for a good period of time. Here's hoping the firepower keeps it rolling into May and beyond!
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 29 | 283 ANSWERS Twelve Leafs players had career years; is this a sign of the success yet to come? Who have you been most surprised with this season? | ||
| Liljegren | 74 | 26.1 % |
| Matthews | 21 | 7.4 % |
| Bunting | 166 | 58.7 % |
| Other | 22 | 7.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
