There are always hypotheticals to daydream about, especially for a Toronto Maple Leafs team with only one playoff series win in the NHL’s salary cap era. So today, let’s take a look at the best current team that the Leafs could put together of former players and prospects. We’re using these players are they are right now, not in their primes, and they do not have to have played a game for the Leafs—just been part of their system at some point.
Some of these players were staples of the team, while others exist as small bits of trivia. In all, the amount of players currently on the team is somewhat inspiring, a sign of how strong the current group is. While some of this discussion might purely be about talent, it might pose some interesting philosophical team-building questions as well.
The stacked forward group
The core four remains, as the Leafs boast some of the best players in franchise history. The group has been supplemented with some elite talent over the years, many of which are still playing at a high level. There are a lot of great options, and some great players will be left off the mock lineup.
Hyman – Matthews – Marner
Knies – Tavares – Nylander
Moore – O’Reilly – Verhaeghe
McCann – Kadri – Domi
Extras: McMann, Bertuzzi, Marchment, Pacioretty, Noesen, Foligno, Rodrigues, Brazeau, Joshua, Bunting, Kerfoot
It makes sense to keep some net-front presence to complement the Matthews/Marner and Nylander/Tavares duos. Matthew Knies brings a bit more speed than Zach Hyman, in this instance looking for top six balance. Given Hyman’s down goal-scoring so far this season, this might not be seen as much of an upgrade over the current team’s top six, but Hyman still has a good chance at scoring 30 goals this year. Since leaving the Leafs, Hyman has defied traditional ageing curves, improving each season as he did as a Leaf.
Ryan O’Reilly would be a great deadline addition once again, though the Nashville Predators seem keen on retaining his services. He is overqualified for a checking centre role, but he adds a fantastic element to this team regardless. Perhaps, if the Leafs do acquire him this season, coach Berube will find a more even split of ice time between the O’Reilly and Tavares lines. Adding Trevor Moore to this lineup is incredible, a similar role to what Moore plays with the Los Angeles Kings with Phillip Danault. Carter Verhaeghe was an unfortunate contract dump shortly after being drafted in the 3rd round of the 2013 draft. His shot and speed help round out a stout trio.
Both Nazem Kadri and Jared McCann are locks for this roster, and too good to be on a fourth line. Both could easily be further up this lineup. Still, Kadri is the best remaining natural centre. McCann, briefly a Leaf just prior to the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, has blossomed with the Kraken.
The final spot is tricky, and here the tie has gone to a current Leaf. Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Pacioretty are power forwards with pedigree. Some more liberal interpretations of ex-Leafs include some ex-Toronto Marlies, Mason Marchment, Stefan Noesen, and Justin Brazeau would fit the power forward mould, as would once-draft pick Dakota Joshua. Bobby McMann might be the most physically impressive, bringing some speed to the lineup.
Evan Rodrigues, like Alexander Kerfoot, is a versatile forward who contributes to every NHL lineup, who had a brief stopover with the Leafs in the 2020 offseason. It could be argued that Nick Foligno brings a bit of it all, even though his Leafs stint was underwhelming and injury-riddled. For today, Max Domi might play an important role with a passing mindset, perhaps unlocking shooters in the bottom six like McCann and Verhaeghe.
The lacklustre defence
Our theme of current Leafs holds true on the blueline, as most sensible possibilities include at least three of this season’s group. Still, it must be acknowledged that this blueline is nowhere near as overpowering as the hypothetical forward group. In fact, the Leafs might not have a top 10 blueline league-wide with this fantasy lineup. Obviously, this group lacks a true star, and so depth and synergy become even more critical. For this reason, the selections here could be much more contested. In this exercise Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, and Jake McCabe are musts. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is a strong addition, able to play his weak side on the right if needed.
McCabe – Tanev
Rielly – Schenn
Ekman-Larsson – Durzi
Extra lefties: Sandin, Gustafsson, Edmundson, Benoit, Brodie
Extra righties: Lyubushkin, Ceci, Liljegren
Sean Durzi is almost impossible to exclude, though he is out with a long-term injury. His being a right shot certainly helps his case, but it would inject a level of offence into the group that has had its dry spells this season. Again, without a superstar depth is needed. Durzi would push Rielly as the offensive focal point more than he would blend in with Ekman-Larsson or McCabe. The most optimistic Conor Timmins fans might think that he has a shot at taking over this imaginary spot, but he certainly has not yet.
The next big decision comes with style. At this point, the blueline has three respectable options on the power play in Rielly, Durzi, and Ekman-Larsson. At their most aggressive, teams might only need one defenceman in this spot. The penalty kill requires at least four defencemen capable of logging critical roles, and this group has at most three in Tanev, McCabe, and Ekman-Larsson. At least two trustworthy pairings are needed to defend leads. The in-zone defensive skills needed for these roles require crease clearers and shot blockers, where Tanev is the only true natural.
In other words, despite arguably being the next most talented player, Rasmus Sandin might not be the best fit. Adding another left shot forces Ekman-Larsson to the right, perhaps not ideal. Sandin might be more offensively talented than Ekman-Larsson, but the veteran provides more defensive attributes. Erik Gustafsson suffers the same fate as Sandin for a similar reasoning, the offence-leaning left shots are not much needed given the group ahead of them.
The choice here was Luke Schenn, though one could make a compelling case that Ilya Lyubushkin is the superior option. Both are right shots that provide a level of physicality and embrace their roles, a role this imaginary blueline is in clear need of. By all accounts, Lyubushkin is beloved by the Leafs core players, but there is something prophetic about Schenn. The Leafs 2008 draft pick, 5th overall, who helped the Leafs win their lone cap era playoff series, taking his rightful place beside Morgan Rielly. Another point for Schenn is that he is much more likely to be a deadline option than Lyubushkin, who is playing a major role for the contender Dallas Stars.
And in net…
Driving home the strength of the current team, and to an extent the nature of being a contending team the past decade, there is a lot to like about this season’s Leafs crease. Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll are vying for the role of playoff starter.
Woll
Stolarz
Extra: Andersen
Though tandems are becoming more popular, teams are still likely to favour an old-school approach to their playoff rotation. It might come in more sparring stretches, but most teams without a Vezina Trophy candidate in net will have to rely on more than one goalie to make a championship run. In other words, one might argue for somewhere around a 75/25% split for the playoff starts.
It must be acknowledged that both have worrisome injury histories, as does the only other reasonable option Frederik Andersen. Some might prefer the more proven Andersen, but youth provides its own intrigue. Again, for karmic reasons, there is no need to break up the current group.
James Reimer, Jack Campbell, and Petr Mrazek are not obvious upgrades on Matt Murray, who does have two Stanley Cups to his name. Still, Dennis Hildeby deserves some appreciation, as any legitimate NHL arrival prior to Stolarz’s contract ending is ahead of schedule. Artur Akhtyamov might be a year behind for now, more aligned with the end of Woll’s contract. In all hopes the Leafs are faced with some difficult decisions in the future if all goalies continue to perform so well.
What it says about the organization
Through this somewhat trivial exercise, some larger-scope conclusions about the Auston Matthews era Leafs can be drawn. The theme of current Leafs underscores the strength of the current group. The forward depth is incredible, rivalling several Olympic-level teams. Still, playoff scoring has remained an issue. Many fans blame the core four specifically, armchair psychoanalysis that may or may not have bearing. Perhaps though, there is a distinction between forwards as a group of players versus actual offensive output. The question of style comes into play, not only in coaching but in offensive personnel. The current volume of meaningful power forwards is a reason to hope for increased playoff effectiveness.
Still, the far more obvious weaknesses lie elsewhere. The current goalie group lacks a star, but appears to be in far better shape as roughly four of the top six potential options are on the team right now. Teams have won without a true star in net, and while it would be nice to add, the Leafs might already have enough. Despite having their best blueline of the cap era, the biggest hole remains on the blueline.
To those calling for a drastic change, read breaking up the core four, the path to glory should involve acquiring a truly high-end defenceman. The Leafs do have some prospects that seem to have useful NHL upside, but there do not seem to be any such players on the horizon. The strategy for now has been to build a synergy with depth, a narrow chance to have an ideal mix of six to eight defencemen converge and coalesce. This might be too small a needle to thread, but so too is the process of Leafs scouts nailing a high upside swing on a draft pick, in a trade, or via free agency.
