Our Toronto Maple Leafs Preview 2019 – 2020 observes that Leafs had a solid regular season. However, this Toronto Maple Leafs Preview 2019 – 2020 also notes that they suffered their second straight first round playoff exit. That marked this team’s second straight game-seven loss against Boston as well. The Maple Leafs had a long offseason but were able to accomplish all of their goals. That means that this team should be well situated to make it to into the Stanley Cup Playoffs once again. Our 2019-2020 Toronto Maple Leafs season preview looks at where they stand in relation to their Atlantic Division rivals. Overall, we believe they will do well this season.
Toronto Maple Leafs Preview 2019 – 2020: Goaltending
Toronto should be solid in net. Frederik Andersen enters his fourth year with the Leafs after a terrific 2018-2019 season. Last year, the Dannish netminder played 60 games while maintaining a .917 save percentage and a 2.77 GAA. Anderson also saw the second-most rubber out of any goalie. He stopped 1796 out of the 1958 shots he faced last season. Despite the heavy shot volume, if healthy, he is reliable enough that he should see a similar workload this year.
Our Toronto Maple Leafs Preview 2019 – 2020 determines that the Maple Leafs backup situation might be the team’s biggest question mark this year. They enter the season with Michael Hutchinson as Anderson’s backup. Hutchinson played in only nine games last year and was fairly rough in those appearances. Hutchinson finished with a 3.27 GAA and a .887 save percentage. Despite the uncertainty, Anderson should be able to handle a massive workload and make the potential backup issues more bearable for Toronto.
Toronto Forwards
The Maple Leafs accomplished their biggest goal of the offseason, signing Mitch Marner. Marner led the team in scoring with 94 points. He is a top young wing and opposing teams will try to control him. Over the past year, he developed great chemistry with center John Tavares. Tavares led Toronto with 47 goals and factored in 41 assists as well. The fact is it was a great first season in a Leafs sweater for the Missusauga native. While playing almost a minute less per game than his previous season, Tavares set career highs in both goals and points (88).
Auston Matthews was also very effective last season for Toronto. Due to injury, Matthews was limited to 68 games but posted a career high 73 points. He’s had durability issues, but Matthews possesses the potential to score 50-plus goals. Even without Matthews, the Leafs have enough talent upfront that they should have little trouble scoring.
General Manager Kyle Dubas was also able to sign wingers Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen over the summer. This Toronto Maple Leafs Preview 2019 – 2020 finds that both Johnsson and Kapanen had solid seasons last year and can slot into either the second or third line. They add scoring depth. As does William Nylander and newly acquired Alexander Kerfoot. Nylander missed numerous games due to contract negotiations. In 54 games, he posted 27 points. His pace was 0.50 points per game, well below the 0.74 PPG rate from the season prior. Nylander should improve his production this year.
Kerfoot should center the team’s third line while replacing Nazem Kadri. Kerfoot should be a suitable replacement. He finished last season with 15 goals and 27 assists. Toronto finished fourth in scoring and has the pieces in place to finish with even more goals this season.
Maple Leafs Preview – Defense
Our Toronto Maple Leafs Preview 2019 – 2020 finds that the team also managed to improve their blueline for the upcoming season. Their biggest move was acquiring Tyson Barrie from Colorado. Barrie is one of the top offensive defensemen in hockey and will likely be one of the top scoring defensemen this season. Last year, he had the seventh most points out of all NHL defensemen with 59. He will be a tremendous presence on a powerplay that had a 21.8 percent conversion rate in 2019. The Leafs also added Cody Ceci from Ottawa this offseason. Ceci finished last season with 26 points and -22 plus-minus rating but will add some much-needed depth on the backend.
Toronto’s most important piece on defense will be Morgan Rielly. Rielly had a monster season last year. While playing a team-leading 23:07 minutes per game, the former fifth overall pick had 20 goals and 52 assists from the backend. Reilly is just 25 years old and could be in line to contend for the Norris trophy his season. Overall, Toronto made significant improvements to their blueline over the summer, which was arguably their weakest area last year.
Toronto Maple Leafs Preview 2019 – 2020: Outlook
The Maple Leafs look set to have another very solid season. They were able to retain Mitch Marner, Kasperi Kapanen, and Andereas Johonsson. They all join star centers Auston Matthews and John Tavares. Along with this, our Toronto Maple Leafs Preview 2019 – 2020 finds that they drastically increased their talent on the blueline. Tyson Barrie is a very underrated acquisition and will likely be among the top scoring D-men in the NHL. To top it all off, Frederik Andersen has the ability to keep Toronto in every game. The Leafs will likely be among the top Atlantic teams again this season. Plus, they could make more noise come playoff time.
Toronto Maple Leafs Preview 2019 – 2020: Projection
Record:49-24-9, 107 points
Finish: 2nd in the Atlantic Division
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