Strong Start To Regular Season Crucial To Maple Leafs` Success

The NHL’s Atlantic Division got more competitive this past week, as the Division-champion Florida Panthers pulled off a blockbuster trade with Calgary that sent star winger Matthew Tkachuk to South Florida in exchange for star winger Jonathan Huberdeau, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, a prospect and a first-round draft pick. Florida was going to continue to be a frontrunner for top spot in the Atlantic, and first place in the Eastern Conference, but the edge Tkachuk brings gives the Panthers a dimension some believed they’d lacked in recent seasons.

How does this affect the Toronto Maple Leafs, who finished last season second in the Atlantic? Well, for one thing, it makes the Buds’ task of getting out of the first round of the playoffs that much more difficult. The Leafs have enough talent and depth to be just about a playoff certainty but don’t kid yourself – one extended slump, and Toronto will most likely find itself in a ferocious battle to keep pace for much of the season.

For one thing, the Leafs will be up against not one, but two Florida teams built to win, and win now. Toronto had the third-best regular-season record in the Eastern Conference last season, but the gap between first and worst has narrowed considerably since then.

The Boston Bruins were thought to be on the verge of a rebuild after last season, but instead, ownership and management changed only the B’s coach, and again are intent on making the playoffs this coming year. And the Stanley Cup Finalist Tampa Bay Lightning once again will be focused on winning their third Cup in four seasons. Would you bet against them at this point?

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In addition, virtually all non-playoff teams in the Atlantic last year, with the exception of the Montreal Canadiens, are positioning themselves as legitimate playoff contenders. The Buffalo Sabres still probably have a year or so before they’ll make it into the postseason, but they’re a well-coached group with a growing number of dynamic young players, and could surprise observers by being in a late-season battle for a playoff slot.

Similarly, the Ottawa Senators have pushed themselves into a conversation about playoff teams in 2022-23 because GM Pierre Dorion made some of the biggest moves of the off-season thus far, including acquiring offensive powerhouses Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux. And the Detroit Red Wings also look prepared to close the gap between themselves and fourth place in the Atlantic.

With all that in mind, a strong start is going to be necessary for the Leafs this year. And their schedule does present an opportunity for a big push out of the gate: in Toronto’s first 11 games of the season, they’re going to take on non-playoff teams from Montreal, Ottawa, Arizona, Winnipeg, Vegas, San Jose, Anaheim and Philadelphia. The other three teams in that opening stretch – Washington, Dallas, and Los Angeles – all finished with worse records than the Buds last year. In other words, the Leafs can and should emerge from the first portion of the schedule at or near the top of the Atlantic.

If they fail to do that, Toronto is looking at a tough road the rest of the schedule. At the end of the 2022-23 regular season, the Leafs must square off in the final month against the defending Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, the Carolina Hurricanes (twice), the Senators (twice), the Panthers (three times), the Nashville Predators, Columbus Blue Jackets, Red Wings, Bruins, Lightning and the New York Rangers. Essentially, that`s one game, every other day, against a team that will be desperate for playoff positioning.

There`s an old hockey saying that goes something like this: you can`t win a Cup at the start of the year, but you can lose one with a terrible start to the year. This is unquestionably true for Toronto. If new goalies Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov fail to positively acclimate to their new environs, the season-long result could have frightening repercussions for Leafs fans.

A strong start to this coming year is crucial for Toronto. With it, they can set their sights on winning the Atlantic; without it, they`re going to be in for a bunkhouse brawl just to be a playoff team.

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