Five takeaways from the Leafs 2017-18 season
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Toronto Maple Leafs players leave the ice after losing Game 7 to the Bruins in Boston on Wednesday. (Charles Krupa/Associated Press)
Solid season for Andersen, but clearly overworked
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The young core led by Matthews, Marner, and Nylander was able to avoid a sophomore slump for the most part and had solid seasons offensively.
Despite missing 20 games with various injuries, Matthews had a spectacular season. Though his 34 goals and 62 points were lower than his rookie campaign, the 2016 1st overall pick had an amazing 1.02 points-per-game average, which would equate to 84 points had he stayed healthy. Matthews is the team’s unquestioned best forward so expect him to take his game to new heights next season, presuming he stays healthy.
Meanwhile, Marner led the way with 22 goals, 47 assists, and 69 points, plus topping the team scoring in the playoffs with 9 points across those 7 games. He also led the team with 27 powerplay points, a big part of why Toronto was second in the NHL with the man advantage (25%). It's clear Marner will be one of Toronto's go-to offensive players for years to come and this season was a breakout year of sorts for him.
Nylander matched his point totals from his rookie season (62) points and saw his usage increase from a season ago. He also improved his work in the faceoff circle, having a 51.4% success rate on the draw, which was a dramatic improvement from 40.2% a year ago. With a big payday awaiting him this summer, Nylander will have a higher responsibility and expectations going into 2018-19.
Outside the Big Three, most of the Leafs young guns had solid seasons in 2017-18. Zach Hyman set career highs in points, Kapanen and Johnsson established themselves as solid defensive forwards with an offensive touch, and Dermott played well down the stretch and will easily make the team next year.
The only young player to see a drop in production was Connor Brown who had a down year offensively, though on a team as stacked as Toronto's it's not a huge area of concern. Needless to say, the Leafs are entering a new era with the youth taking centre stage.
The defence was once again Toronto's Achilles heel
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| Photo by Maddie Meyer / Getty Images |
Jake Gardiner's disastrous outing in Game 7 on Wednesday with a -5 rating is just the tip of the iceberg that is the Leafs’ shaky back end.
While a few of their defenders had solid seasons offensively, with Gardiner and Rielly each having 52-point seasons, their work in their own zone leaves a lot to be desired. As previously stated, the Leafs allowed the fourth most shots against in the NHL. Additionally, the entire core had a combined Corsi percentage of 50.3, which is even but should be higher.
The eye test also shows that a lot of times throughout the season, the Leafs defenders made some risky plays that led to odd-man rushes and high scoring chances. The series against Boston also had them hemmed in their own zone for long stretches of time with the team having trouble gaining possession and getting the puck out at times.
Clearly, the defence needs a new look as the current core in place isn't good enough to get this team to where it wants to go. Rielly, Gardiner, and Dermott appear locked in place, but players like Roman Polak and Connor Carrick appear to be on their way out of Toronto. A free agent signing (John Carlson, please!) is the most likely avenue the team should take to improve the backend.
To be fair, the defensive unit is young and growing with each passing game. However, they need to take a big step forward and improve next season if the Leafs want to have a deeper playoff run in 2018.
A historic season for the Leafs
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| Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images
The one thing this current Leafs team can take pride in heading into the offseason is that their squad was able to establish franchise bests in many areas.
Many long-standing records of regular season success finally fell this season as the Leafs finished the year with 49 wins, and 105 points, both club records. Though Toronto has been in the NHL for over 100 years now, having these marks reached now are relieving as the team can enter a new age with these bests reached.
As previously mentioned, Andersen had the most wins in a season by any Leaf goalie ever. In doing so, he topped a mark previously held by Ed Belfour and Andrew Raycroft (yikes!) with 37. Having achieved this is encouraging and makes the trade with the Anaheim Ducks back in 2016 that brought Freddie here look better and better.
When Matthews scored his 30th goal of the season back in March, he became the third Leaf player to reach the plateau, joining Nazem Kadri and James van Riemsdyk. They were one of only two teams to achieve this feat in 2017-18. Additionally, Kadri and Matthews became the only duo of centres in Leafs history to have 30+ goals in a single campaign.
Put it all together, and it's easy to see that the Leafs achieved quite a bit this year. It will be interesting to see if the team will be able to build on this and attempt to have their first ever 50-win campaign in 2018-19.
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| Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images |
Now that the Leafs are done playing, what awaits is a critical few months that will dictate where the team stands once training camp opens in September.
Up to this point, the Leafs have done a fabulous job of both drafting and developing their players internally, and their efforts have been rewarded over the past two seasons. Since committing to a rebuild in 2014, Toronto has drafted their core players, resigned key veterans to reasonable deals, and made a few trades that have helped the team.
There are a few issues that still need to be addressed, most notably a top-pairing defenseman. Rielly has emerged as the Leafs top defender, but he can't do it all by himself. When he went down with an injury earlier in the season, it showed just how flawed the team's backend is without him playing. Getting a better right-shooting defenseman than Ron Hainsey, whether it's through trade or free agency, has to be the number one priority for the offseason.
Additionally, a number of veteran players have their contracts set to expire and it's unclear who will remain and who won't. Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, Tomas Plekanec, and James van Riemsdyk are the most notable players set to become free agents this summer. Many tough decisions will have to be made, especially with young guns like Kapanen and Johnsson knocking on the door, meaning next year will likely be a new-look team.
Perhaps most notable change this offseason will be regarding who gets to be the Leafs GM in 2018-19. Current GM Lou Lamoriello's three-year contract is set to expire and there have been no talks recently regarding a possible extension. There are a few options in the wings with assistant GMs Mark Hunter and Kyle Dubas as the front-runners for the job should Lamoriello depart. He does have a provision in his contract allowing him to stay an extra two-years in an advisory role, though we won't know until an announcement is made considering how secretive the Leafs have been with their decision-making.
Along with the NHL draft, these are just a few of the issues that have to be addressed in the coming months. This offseason is very critical in determining if the Leafs will improve, regress, or remain the status quo for the upcoming campaign.
All stats for this article are from Hockey-Reference.com.
You can follow Michael Mazzei on Twitter @MichaelMazzei3.
Is our D that bad, or do our forwards need to be better defensively in our own zone? Not convinced we should be pinning all our defensive woes on just 2 outta the 5 players on the ice. Interested in your thoughts in this area.
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