The Maple Leafs In My Opinion

Jan 1, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs players embrace forward Auston Matthews (34) after he scored the overtime winning goal in a 5-4 win over Detroit Red Wings in the Centennial Classic ice hockey game at BMO Field. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports No matter how the 2016-17 season turns out, no one can argue it has been both a successful and memorable one for the Toronto Maple Leafs. After finishing the previous year in the NHL's basement, the team finds themselves in the thick of a playoff race with only a few weeks remaining in the regular season. The additions of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Frederik Andersen among others have given fans of the franchise some exciting and talented players to watch and has fast-tracked the team's rebuild by at least a year. While there is no doubt a lot of good things currently going the Leafs' way, there are a few areas the team can improve upon that can turn them into ...

Photo by: Nathan Denette/Canadian Press As NHL All-Star break approaches, the Toronto Maple Leafs may have a dilemma that needs to be addressed. The team is currently in the middle of a playoff race, playing some inspired hockey for the past two months, and are an impact defenseman away from becoming a serious threat in the Eastern Conference. Because of this, there have been a number trade rumours involving Leafs forward, James van Riemsdyk (JVR), since start of the 2016-17 season. At just 27-years of age, he is in the middle of his prime and has done fairly well offensively for most of his career. There has been some interest  in the 6-foot-3-inch winger and JVR definitely has enough value to help land the team a defender should he be involved in a trade. There are, however, a few legitimate reasons why the Leafs would be wise to keep JVR for the foreseeable future. Case for trading him Photo by: John E. Sokolowski / USA TODAY Sports JVR's va...

Photo by: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports As the Toronto Maple Leafs approach the midway mark of the 2016-17 season, they find themselves in the middle of a playoff race. Despite their 5-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, the Leafs (18-13-8) are just two points behind the Boston Bruins for 2nd in the Atlantic Division with three games in hand. Everyone on the Leafs roster has played a part in the team's turnaround season this year. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander among other rookies have played exceptionally well at both ends of the ice. The defensive unit, while still a work in progress, continues to improve. The team is seventh in the league in goals for, third in shots-per-game, seventh on the power play, and eighth on the penalty kill. Another player who needs to be added to that list is Frederik Andersen. After suffering through a disastrous October , Andersen has since rebounded to become the reliable starter the team had hoped f...

Less than 48 hours after acquiring the right to select first overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, the Leafs added another player to their roster by signing Nikita Zaitsev to a one-year, entry-level contract earlier today. The 24-year-old defensemen just completed a strong season with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, registering 8 goals and 26 points in 46 games. Formally the captain of CSKA and three-time KHL All-Star, he also registered 13 points in 20 games during the playoffs, which tied for the playoff leader in points for defensemen. This signing has been expected to be completed for months, dating back to a report where Zaitsev planned to sign with the Leafs, according to Sportsnet.  May 1 was the first day international free agents were available on the market to be signed, so the signing occurring today makes sense. A number of other teams had expressed interest in signing Zaitsev, including the Calgary Flames and Pittsburgh Penguins. Given that Zaitsev is one of three...

The 2015-16 season has been classified as a write-off for many fans, as the Maple Leafs wrap up the first year of the long-awaited rebuild. On the other hand, these last few weeks have presented the Leafs management with less of a time waster and more of an evaluation period for their prospects. We have already seen the likes of William Nylander, Nikita Soshnikov, Zach Hyman, and Connor Brown play valuable minutes on a nightly basis since the trade deadline. Their play, teamwork, and confidence have brought excitement and buzz amongst Leafs Nation to watch games now and provide hope for next season. Meanwhile, there has been another player that has quietly been performing an important role for the Leafs. He has seen an increased role and ice time, which has resulted in a drastic change in possession after a veteran defenseman left town. I’m referring, of course, to Morgan Rielly. When the former captain, Dion Phaneuf, was traded to the Ottawa Senators in early Fe...

Today was supposed to be a quiet day with the Leafs not having a game to play until tomorrow night against the Canadiens. That turned out to not be the case, as it instead became a frantic day of many roster moves by the Leafs. It started innocently enough at the beginning of the practice when soon-to-be-traded P.A. Parenteau left practice just after 9 a.m. For the next 10 minutes, Twitter went into a frenzy with many believing this to be a sign that his days with the Leafs were over.  It wasn't long before the reason for Parenteau's early exit became available, turning out to be a simple case of "soreness."  When he learned about what happened on Twitter later, Parenteau was aware of what he did is just another case of the "frenzy of the trade deadline." The next order of business came not long afterward when the greatest trash talker in recent memory , Rich Clune, was loaned to the Marlies, who were set to play against the Hershey Bears. The move ...

The trade deadline frenzy is officially upon us, and this year's edition promises to be a very exciting one for Leaf fans. In years past, there were little to no exciting moves made as the team seemed "confident" with what they had. This year will assuredly not be the case, as the scorched earth plan is now coming to fruition and is only going to grow more with each passing day. The Leafs have made some moves already, but the work is far from over. There is a lot that will be going on for the next six days and beyond, so let me help you get up to speed with what has already occurred and what to expect in the coming days. What Have The Leafs Done Already? The Leafs have jumped ahead of the pack by already making three trades as of February 23. It started with the Phaneuf blockbuster, which I discussed at length about.  Then, for the last two days, Matthias, Polak, and Spaling were shipped off to new homes in exchange for draft picks, a prospect, and salary cap d...