Toronto Maple Leafs season preview

The Maple Leafs got past the Tampa Bay Lightning in the fist round last season but lost in the second tilt. – Image by Bill Kober of PHN

Well, for the first time in nearly two decades, the Toronto Maple Leafs won a first round playoff series this past spring. It was certainly a time to celebrate. The Maple Leafs have had competitive teams in the regular season, only to lay the proverbial egg in the post season.

This time they bowed out in the second round, and really wasn’t close.

It is now Brad Treliving’s job to get the Male Leafs past the second round. Treliving was hired in the off season as the new general manager.

“I know it’s been talked about in this market for a long time. You know, “What’s happened at the end of the season the last few years?'” Treliving said.

“But you have to keep putting yourself in those positions to have those opportunities. To me, to have success you’ve got to keep knocking on the door and to be good for a long time and consistently be a good team. And it just gives you another ticket to the ball. And you keep knocking on that door, knocking on that door, knocking on that door, to eventually knock it down.”

Treliving, late of the Calgary Flames, has a monumental task ahead of him.

“I know we’re all focused on the end goal here,” Treliving said. “There’s a lot of steps that you have to take to before you get there. You have to put yourself in a position year after year to get to the dance to give yourself an opportunity.

“Sheldon has done that each and every year.”

The Maple Leafs added muscle and aggression on the lower lines in the form of signing of Max Domi, Tyler Bertuzzi and fourth-liner Ryan Reaves.

“We need a little bit more snot to our game, and I think [Bertuzzi and Domi] both bring a little more of that,” Treliving said. “As much as the game’s changed, some things have never changed. At the most important times, the rink shrinks.”

The real issue for the Maple Leafs is in the net. They have meandered through the forest trying to find a reliable, healthy, and adequate goaltender.

During the off season, Toronto signed Martin Jones as a back up to the starting duo of Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll. The goaltending betrayed the Maple Leafs when they needed it to make the necessary saves, last season. Jones may find himself in the number one slot before the holiday break.

Auston Matthews signed a five-year, $53 million contract extension with the Maple Leafs.

“I feel fortunate to continue this journey as a Maple Leaf in front of the best fans in hockey! I will do everything I can to help get us to the top of the mountain,” Matthews tweeted.

One would hope so based on the average annual value in excess of $13 million.

With that in mind, the Leafs still need to work out a deal with William Nylander.

William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs

“There’s no other place I want to play, but I still have one more year left,” Nylander said on NHL.com. “I don’t understand why there’s such a big rush to do something right now.

“I still have one more year left.”

Toronto will need their prospects to make an impact on the roster this season.

Woll is penciled in as the number two goalie this season. He iced in seven 7 games with the Maple Leafs with a record of 6-1-0, 2.16 GAA, .932 save percentage. The balance of his season was with the Marlies of the AHL in Toronto.

Forwards Nicholas Robertson (15 games with the Leafs last season) and Matthew Knies (three games played with the Maple Leafs) are expected to start the season with the Maple Leafs and not the Marlies.

Adding is all well and good, but the Maple Leafs cannot rely on their new found “snot” to get into the playoffs and to the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

They will need a healthy goaltending corps, this year seems to be a three-headed monster of sorts. With a Nylander signing, the core of the Maple Leafs regular season success will be settled and head coach Sheldon Keefe will have a solid unit to manage this season.