Toronto Maple Leafs 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Toronto Maple Leafs 2017 Season Preview

Auston Matthews dominated as a rookie. It's time to see him build on that success in 2017.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 9/14/2017.

Toronto Maple Leafs Line 1 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Patrick Marleau	Left Wing	82	6-foot-2-inches	215-pounds	27	19	46
Auston Matthews	Center	82	6-foot-3-inches	216-pounds	40	29	69
William Nylander	Right Wing	81	6-foot-0-inches	190-pounds	22	39	61

Toronto Maple Leafs Line 2 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
James van Riemsdyk	Left Wing	82	6-foot-3-inches	200-pounds	29	33	62
Nazem Kadri	Center	82	6-foot-0-inches	186-pounds	32	29	61
Mitch Marner	Right Wing	77	6-foot-2-inches	207-pounds	19	42	61

Toronto Maple Leafs Line 3 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Zach Hyman	Left Wing	82	6-foot-1-inches	210-pounds	10	18	28
Tyler Bozak	Center	78	6-foot-1-inches	195-pounds	18	37	55
Connor Brown	Right Wing	82	6-foot-0-inches	185-pounds	20	16	36

Toronto Maple Leafs Line 4 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Matt Martin	Left Wing	82	6-foot-3-inches	220-pounds	5	4	9
Dominic Moore	Center	82	6-foot-0-inches	192-pounds	11	14	25
Leo Komorov	Right Wing	82	5-foot-11-inches	210-pounds	14	18	32

Toronto Maple Leafs Forwards Review: Toronto has three lines of forwards that can play at a high level. The fourth line is going to need to step up. Toronto has the depth at forward with line 1 center Auston Matthews leading the way to field a very competitive team.

Toronto finished 5th in goals scored and 2nd on the power play in 2016-2017. Toronto exceed expectations last season. It will be difficult for them to match what they did last season.

Toronto Maple Leafs Defensive Lines

Player	Line	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Jake Gardiner	Line 1	79	6-foot-2-inches	200-pounds	9	34	43
Morgan Reilly	Line 1	76	6-foot-4-inches	216-pounds	6	21	27
Nikita Zaitsev	Line 2	82	6-foot-2-inches	195-pounds	4	32	36
Ron Hainsley	Line 2	16	6-foot-3-inches	210-pounds	0	3	3
Connor Carrick	Line 3	67	5-foot-11-inches	195-pounds	2	6	8
Martin Marincin	Line 3	25	6-foot-4-inches	210-pounds	1	6	7

Toronto Maple Leafs Defensemen Review Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly anchor the top line of the Toronto Maple Leafs defense. This first line is effective. Nikita Zaitsev anchors the second line he can set up scoring chances. Ron Hainsley is a veteran on last years Pittsburgh Penguins team who can be an effective defensive defender, his problem is he has durability concerns. The third line for Toronto's defense needs work.

Toronto seems to have a weakness on defense. That leads to why is this team 22nd in goals allowed and 10th in penalty killing. I have to give Mike Babcock a lot of credit for making a defense with this little talent a top 10 team in penalty killing. Like it or not, that's all on Mike Babcock period.

Draft Utopia Between The Pipes Goalie Tracker

Starting Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Frederik Andersen	Toronto Maple Leafs	66	33-16-14	4 Shutouts	.918	2.41 GAA

Backup Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Curtis McElhinney	Toronto Maple Leafs	15	8-8-2	1 Shutout	.917	2.70 GAA

Toronto Maple Leafs Goaltender Review Frederik Andersson is a great goalie. Toronto finally found their starting goalie. Curtis McElhinney is not someone I trust as a backup.

Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Pool: Toronto has Timothy Liljegren their 2017 first round pick who was once projected to go top 5 in their farm system. They have some solid AHL backups on the Marlies, but Liljegren is their main future prospect.

Toronto Maple Leafs 2017-2018 Prediction

Toronto surprised me with their playoff appearance last year since they had all offense. I see them struggling this year until Liljegren arrives, but once they solidify the defense this team will be a force in the Eastern Conference. Toronto is built to be a team that can make multiple Stanley Cups like the Pittsburgh Penguins if they can improve their defense and keep their youth since this team has a really bright future moving forward.