The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Just how good are North leaders?
Critics suggest a lack of inter-divisional play makes it hard to assess the teams
Just how good are the Toronto Maple Leafs these days?
This is not meant as a rhetorical question. Although it might seem like one following Toronto's three-game sweep of the Edmonton Oilers, in which the Leafs allowed one goal and held Connor Mcdavid and Leon Draisaitl to without a point.
It was a statement-making performance. But it wasn't just Edmonton and the rest of Canada that was served notice.
“Am I aware that the Leafs shut the Oilers out? I am,” said Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. “Am I aware that Mcdavid and Draisaitl didn't get points in those games? I am. Did I sit there and watch it with a keen eye? I didn't.
“I think that's the one thing that's missing from this is that it's almost like we're playing in four different leagues under one umbrella. I'll be honest: I miss not playing all the teams. If there's ever an argument (of why you should play everyone in the league), this proved it. For players, for staff, for fans, it's great to get to see everybody and play against everybody and kind of measure yourself. You watch the Leafs now and we can't measure ourselves against the Leafs.”
For the teams in Canada, Toronto has become the team to beat.
As of Friday morning, the Leafs had a seven-point lead over the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the North Division standings. They were 12 points ahead of Montreal, which holds down the final playoff spot. With the season almost at the halfway mark, Toronto has become the favourite to win the division and reach the conference final.
The only question is whether that also makes it the favourite to win the Stanley Cup.
So just how good are the Leafs? Well, we now know they are better than the Oilers. But are they better than the Lightning, who won the Cup last year?
Well, that's a little bit trickier.
All you can go on right now are their records, which are nearly identical, but which might as well be viewed inside a vacuum.
After Thursday night's 3-1 loss to Vancouver, toronto had a league-best 18-5-2 record, Tampa was second at 16-4-1.
The Leafs rank first in goals per game (3.63) and fourth in goals allowed (2.33); the Lightning is second in goals per game (3.55) and first in goals allowed (1.95).
Toronto has the secondbest power play and is tied for 11th on the penalty kill; Tampa's power play ranks seventh and its penalty kill is ranked second.
Who has the edge? As Cooper said, we won't know until Toronto and Tampa play against each another — a possibility that will only exist if both manage to reach the third round of the playoffs.
“We'd have to win our division through a playoff run and they'd have to do the same thing for us ever to play them,” said Cooper. “So I think that's what's unfortunate, because it sure looks like they're one hell of a team. But you can't gauge yourself because you don't get to play them.”
The lack of inter-divisional play is why some are still looking at Toronto's earlyseason success with a critical eye.
“Smoke and mirrors,” is how former enforcer John Scott referred to the North Division on his podcast Dropping the Gloves. His point is that it's one thing to beat up on Ottawa and Vancouver and Edmonton. But put Toronto in with Tampa in the Central or with Boston and Washington in the East and you might get a different result.
“It's just the Wizard of Oz where everybody thinks it's this great show, and all these teams are great,” said Scott. “But the more we see them play and we see behind the curtain, we see that these guys aren't that good. This division is run-and-gun. All they try to do is score goals. It's fun and it's great and entertaining, but once you get to the playoffs and you get to the final four? If you're Toronto, what are you going to do (in the playoffs) when you're not used to being played that hard?”
It's true that the North Division currently has two teams ranked in the bottom five of the standings. And it's also true that Toronto was 6-1-1 combined against Ottawa and Vancouver. But it's not like the Leafs are the only team that has it easy.
Tampa is 9-1-1 against Columbus, Nashville and Detroit, who all rank in the bottom 12 of the standings. Vegas is 5-1-0 against Anaheim and San Jose, who are among the bottom seven, while Washington is 7-0-1 against Buffalo (28th) and Detroit (30th).
All you can do is win your games. And Toronto is doing that. If it keeps up, the Leafs could end up winning the Presidents' Trophy as the best team in the regular season and they could reach the conference final, where no one will be viewing them as a so-called “easy” matchup.
Not with how dominant they have looked so far this season.
“Maybe it's like the Champions League in soccer,” Cooper said of the unknown that lies ahead. “You're going to play somebody in another league. That's kind of the feel it's going to have. As a hockey fan, I love watching hockey. It's just too bad we don't get to play them.”