Bissonnette reveals who the best matchup is for the Leafs in Round 1
The Toronto Maple Leafs have just 11 games remaining in their 2023-24 regular season, and barring a total and utter collapse and an unfathomable losing skid, the Leafs have all but locked up a spot in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The main thing at this point seems to be who they'll draw in round one.
Last night on NHL on TNT, analyst Paul "Biz Nasty" Bissonnette spoke about who he'd like to see the Leafs match up against in the first round of the playoffs, and somewhat surprisingly, Biz did not choose the Florida Panthers or the Boston Bruins. Instead, he affirmed that he thinks the New York Rangers are actually the best round 1 draw for the Leafs, particularly because he thinks the Leafs match up a lot better against the Rangers than they do against the Bruins or the Panthers. The only problem is that the Leafs would first need to slip into a Wild Card spot in order for that matchup possibility to materialize.
Your first round opponent is everything at this point, and you can see it even in the West. There's going to be no easy matchups, maybe just one throughout the entire league, which is going to be the 1 and 8 seed in the East, but I would be okay with them dropping to a Wild Card and drawing the New York Rangers." - Bissonnette on the Leafs' best first round matchup
The Rangers are a dangerous team, make no mistake about it. However, both the Panthers and the Bruins are already in the Leafs' heads. We've seen it throughout this season, especially in recent weeks, with the Bruins defeating the Leafs handily, even when the Leafs play them more aggressively. A huge part of the game is mental and that mental game is even more heightened in the playoffs. When a certain opponent already has that winning mentality, it's tough to beat them, and for the Leafs, there have to be some seeds of doubt if they draw Florida or Boston in round 1.
The Rangers, on the other hand, they're not a heated divisional rival and the Leafs don't see the Rangers as often and vice versa. There's no real lingering playoff history or monumental collapses against the Rangers hanging over the organization's heads.
Do you agree with Biz on wanting the Rangers/Leafs to match up in round 1? Let us know in the poll below!
| POLL | ||
MARS 28 | 291 ANSWERS Bissonnette reveals who the best matchup is for the Leafs in Round 1 Do you agree with Paul Bissonnette about the Rangers being the best first round matchup for the Maple Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 194 | 66.7 % |
| No | 55 | 18.9 % |
| We want Florida | 15 | 5.2 % |
| We want Boston | 27 | 9.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
