The Buffalo Sabres square off against the Toronto Maple Leafs just three times in the 2022-23 NHL Season. And the Leafs are eyeing the top seed in the East.
The Buffalo Sabres enter the 2022-23 NHL season with a slew of division rivals who figure to be on either equal footing or better than they. The Toronto Maple Leafs are part of the latter crowd, and many analysts have them as the best team in the Eastern Conference.
Despite the Leafs sheer talent, they had trouble with the Sabres last season and ended up losing three games to one in the series. With a sense of urgency in 2022-23, the Sabres will likely have a tougher time with whom most believe is their biggest rival.
Summarizing the Buffalo Sabres-Toronto Maple Leafs meetings in 2021-22
After dropping their first game of the series to Toronto, the Sabres went on a scoring frenzy over the final three contests, outscoring the Maple Leasfs 15-5. It is up for debate, but many in the Buffalo Sabres faithful believe their team’s memorable run in March and April 2022 having begun with a 5-1 win over the Leafs on March 2nd.
The two teams met in the 2022 Heritage Classic, where it initially looked as though the Leafs were going to give the Sabres all they could handle. It wasn’t to be, and the Sabres ended up winning 5-2. Despite a strong April 2022, the Sabres also hit a rough patch early in the month. However, it did not stop them from enjoying yet another three-goal win over their cross-border rival.
Offseason Additions
The Leafs added two new goaltenders in Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray, both of whom will compete for ice time with current Maple Leaf Erik Kallgren acting as a tertiary player. They also added longtime Nashville Predator Calle Jarnkrok, who split time between Seattle and Calgary in 2021-22. Jordie Benn comes over from Minnesota, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel brings Stanley Cup Champion experience, having played most of last season with the Colorado Avalanche.
Overall, the Leafs didn’t bring in a slew of stars, having retained many of their own in hopes that by using free agency to supplement the roster, it would be enough to get the team past Round 1 of the playoffs.
Offseason Subtractions
The Leafs lost Jason Spezza, an older player who was a sound fixture on the lower lines, especially when tasked with winning face-offs. But perhaps Jack Campbell was the team’s biggest loss. While he tailed off down the stretch, many now consider Campbell as one of the NHL’s top goaltenders.
Of course, Ilya Lyubushkin was a solid addition for the Leafs last season. And the hard-hitting defenseman is now a proud member of the Buffalo Sabres roster. But they also lost another productive kid named Ilya Mikheyev, who scored 21 goals in just 53 games last season. Mikheyev’s loss could be a major letdown to this team given his 33 total points.
Ditto for Ondrej Kase, who like Spezza, was a fairly productive lower-liner with 27 points in 50 contests.
State of the Roster
I recently wrote a piece that made predictions for every player on the Sabres aged 30 or older. The article comprised just four players. Yet, had I written an identical article for the Leafs, I would have talked about nine players. As the Sabres will spend another season as one of the youngest teams, the Leafs are the seventh-oldest.
While the Sabres have one defenseman, Lyubushkin, 28 or older, the Leafs are the exact opposite, with a projected five defensemen in the rotation over 28 and seven potential defensemen 28 or older.
Further, the Leafs need to start looking at Auston Matthews’ contract, which expires after next season. So that holds the burning question: Would Matthews stay in Toronto if the Leafs are forced to rebuild?
The Leafs also have 14 players on the camp roster 28 or older. So while many project them as the best team in the Eastern Conference, 2022-23 might be Stanley Cup or Bust for the star-crossed franchise.
2022-23 Prediction
I’ve often joked that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the Cleveland Browns/Detroit Lions of the NHL. Zero Stanley Cups since 1967, no Eastern Conference Championships, no Presidents’ Trophies, and just two division championships since 1938.
I honestly see this trend continuing for the Leafs in 2022-23. For one, it’s hard to compare them to teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers. Especially the ‘Canes, who got deeper this offseason. While the Tampa Bay Lightning lost a few, they also kept much of their core and will also be dangerous to deal with.
That said, it’s hard to see the Leafs, given this team’s recent history, contending with any of the above in the playoffs. I’ll give them an Atlantic Division championship via the sense of urgency here. I’ll even give them a playoff series win. But this is an aging team that won’t make it out of the Eastern Conference Semifinals when the going gets tough.
Article Source: Assessing the Maple Leafs’ offseason and the question marks that remain by Anthony Petrielli