What If the Toronto Maple Leafs could find and ride the wave of a “positive perfect storm” this season? What might the best-case scenario look like if everything could align in just the right ways? That would allow the team to have the kind of season that would take them all the way to the Stanley Cup. I’ll explore the potential of a “positive perfect storm” season in this post.
What Is a Positive Perfect Storm?
A “positive perfect storm” is a concept that describes a situation where multiple favourable conditions come together simultaneously to create an exceptionally beneficial and successful outcome. The idea of a “perfect storm” usually refers to that rare combination of circumstances that lead to a disastrous effect.
But let’s flip that for a minute. If we use the idea in a positive sense, it could signify a convergence of circumstances that results in an exceptionally positive and advantageous outcome.
What if the Maple Leafs Sailed Into That Positive Perfect Storm?
For the Maple Leafs, a positive perfect storm would represent a situation where everything aligns perfectly for a positive outcome. In this post, let me take a few minutes to describe to Maple Leafs fans what I think a positive perfect storm might look like for this team.
Related: Fuhr Suspension Helped Pave Way for NHL Drug Policy
As seems to be their yearly tradition, Maple Leafs fans were yet again disappointed with their team’s failure to push far into the postseason. Yet, these same long-suffering fans now enter the 2023-24 NHL season believing this team has the resources and manpower to make a long run into the playoffs.
In that, they are right. The NHL’s postseason is a long and arduous journey. It takes a great team, but it also takes immense luck to succeed. Everything — and I mean almost everything — has to go well. Could that happen for the Maple Leafs?
What if Everything Went Perfectly?
Let’s imagine if everything went swimmingly for this team. What would the promise of a positive perfect storm for the Maple Leafs look like?
(Andrew Francis Wallace/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Here is what I think a perfect storm might look like.
Positive Perfect Storm Wave One: The Maple Leafs Big Guns Keep Firing
The Maple Leafs’ core offensive players (including Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares) will continue to score regularly. Matthews will come close to his 60-goal form. Nylander will score 40 again, and Marner hits the 100-point mark for the first time in his career.
Related: Ex-Maple Leafs Frederik “Goat” Gauthier: Where Is He Now?
While Tavares might be slowing down, he still comes close to a point-a-game season. He also provides veteran leadership. The Maple Leafs become the highest-scoring team in the NHL, boasting both a potent 5-on-5 attack and an amazingly potent power play.
Newly-appointed coach Guy Boucher becomes a master at coaching special teams. This offensive prowess propels them to the top of the league in goals scored. The penalty kill works, and the club becomes a force in every game.
Positive Perfect Storm Wave Two: Max Domi & Tyler Bertuzzi Are the Real Deal
General manager Brad Treliving’s plan works. The key players who departed during the offseason were missed very little. That’s because both Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi stepped up to complement the core group. Bertuzzi formed amazing chemistry with the Matthews and Marner line, and he looked like the player who finished the season and starred in the postseason with the Boston Bruins.
The depth scoring rose to ease the pressure on the Core Four and made the team more well-rounded offensively. While Ryan Reaves wasn’t a huge part of that scoring, he will become a positive force. He accepts the job of the sheriff of swagger, and he deputizes young power forwards Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann to help keep the peace.
Positive Perfect Storm Wave Three: Mark Giordano Is Ageless & Timothy Liljegren Blossoms
Despite concerns about the defence, the Maple Leafs’ blue line found its stride. Conor Timmins emerges from a great preseason and never looks back. He plays adequate defence but becomes a really strong puck mover, and his shot from the point often finds the twine.
Related: Maple Leafs Add Depth, Untapped Potential in Conor Timmins
Timothy Liljegren takes on a larger role and blossoms into a reliable defenseman, reducing the reliance on the aging Mark Giordano. Giordano plays fewer minutes, and that rest pays off during the playoffs. The team improves its defensive system and becomes more disciplined in limiting high-danger scoring chances. The Maple Leafs regain their reputation as a strong defensive team, striking a nice balance between offence and defence.
Positive Perfect Storm Wave Four: Ilya Samsonov Becomes a Star
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov continues his stellar performance from last season, earning the starting role. However, rookie Joseph Woll proves to be more than just a backup. He emerges as a reliable goalie in his own right and challenges Samsonov for the starting position.
The competition between the two goaltenders raises the team’s overall goaltending performance to elite levels. Solid goaltending becomes a cornerstone of the team’s success, instilling confidence in the team during crucial playoff matchups.
Positive Perfect Storm Wave Five: The Maple Leafs Win the Stanley Cup
The Maple Leafs enter the playoffs with a chip on their shoulder. They are determined to put their recent playoff disappointments behind them. Despite his prior postseason struggles, head coach Sheldon Keefe finds the right strategies and line combinations to navigate through the playoffs successfully.
Related: Carey Price: Saying Farewell to a Canadiens Legend
The team not only wins their first-round matchup but also advances to the Eastern Conference Final. This deep playoff run finally quashes the playoff demons, and Toronto fans see their team lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time in decades.
The Bottom Line
In this set of best-case scenarios, the Maple Leafs’ combination of offensive firepower, depth, improved defence, outstanding goaltending, and a successful postseason becomes the recipe for a championship season.
That said, if similar things happened for about a dozen or so NHL teams, the same could be true. It seems to be the nature of winning the Stanley Cup. Everything must align almost perfectly. For any NHL team, similar scenarios rely on a variety of factors aligning perfectly. And, as so many organizations learn season after season, the challenges of the NHL season make these outcomes far from guaranteed.
While the Maple Leafs and their fans can dream of these scenarios becoming a reality, it’s essential to remember that hockey is dynamic and unpredictable. In real life, there’s no doubt that the Maple Leafs 2023-24 season will bring its share of surprises, challenges, and anxieties. Nonetheless, the possibility of such a triumphant season is what keeps us, as Maple Leafs fans, excited and hopeful for the future.
Related: Maple Leafs’ Easton Cowan: How Good Can This Kid Be?
I can only imagine how the Maple Leafs annual ritual could change from a Groundhog Day of deep disappointment to big hope and the return to deep disappointment. How fun would it be to wake up one season with the time loop broken and “I Got You Babe” by Sonny & Cher not playing on the radio?
[By the way, is it time to talk about changing “You Make My Dreams” by Hall & Oates as the team’s goal song?]
