Douglas Jones-USA TODAY Sports
The Toronto Maple Leafs have taken most of the hockey world by surprise this season, snapping the longest playoff drought in the league by breaking into the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade. But how long can they hang around?
Despite the fact that they boast some serious star power on the forward ranks and head into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the no. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference, many folks, both critics and supporters, are wondering how long this team will manage to stave off elimination, particularly at the hands of the Boston Bruins.
While it’s easy to point to the lack of success over the past several decades for the Maple Leafs, there’s no denying that this team has some elements that should be taken very seriously in the postseason. There is a bit to be desired defensively, but they have what it takes on offense and special teams to be a very real threat in the East.
The Maple Leafs have several forwards of the highest caliber, including the likes of Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri, Joffrey Lupul, and James van Riemsdyk. They also have some solid role players in there as well, including penalty killer extraordinaire Jay McClement.
As far as their special teams go, they have one of the best penalty kill units in the league, led by McClement. The Leafs are killing off 87.9 percent of the penalties they’ve faced this season, good for second in the league. The power play isn’t overly impressive, coming in 14th in the East, but it’s better than some of the top contenders in the conference, including the Bruins.
If James Reimer can keep up what he’s done in goal, which has been one of the biggest surprises on a very surprising team, then this team is a threat. Nineteen of the 26 wins for the Leafs this season have been credited to Reimer, who has a .924 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average on the season.
It’s easy to look at the Maple Leafs and make the assumption that they’ll fail, because that’s what they’ve done for the past several decades, but that may not actually be the case as they get underway in the postseason on Wednesday.
