What Will the Toronto Maple Leafs Do for an Encore?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had chances to clinch this season, but came up short. Their latest attempt was on Wednesday, when all they needed was a point, but the Tampa Bay Lightning won, 3-1. The Leafs were idle on this night, but they could clinch with help from outside. Basically, they needed any two of the three teams to lose: the Detroit Red Wings, the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Washington Capitals. All three did end up losing, and in regulation, too. The Flyers lost first, and Detroit fell second, and that ended up being enough to send the Leafs back to the playoffs.

Now, we all know what happened last year. They did it. The Leafs won a playoff series for the first time since 2004. They faced the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second time in a row, and they were coming off narrowly losing Game Seven. The second verse ended up being better than the first, as the Leafs took a 3-2 series lead, and Game Six went to overtime, which ended with John Tavares delivering the shot heard 'round the world.

Or at least Canada.

The Leafs were trounced by the Florida Panthers in Round 2, but the fact of the matter is, they got to the Elite Eight. They proved that they can do it. The main question: can they do it again and go even farther?

Let's talk about Auston Matthews and the fact that everything he shoots goes in, shall we? Well, he did it again, folks. He put 60 of those things in. Correction: 63 of those things. Matthews does have a chance to finish with at least 70 goals. In fact, he has all of the time in the world to score as much as he wants in a Leafs uniform--Matthews is nailed down for the next four years. Next season will be his first of four years that he'll be getting a $13.25 million payday. He's not the only one getting paid handsomely. William Nylander received a huge extension: eight years, $92 million. Morgan Rielly is in the second year of his eight year extension, which is worth $60 million.

Ironically, John Tavares' future with the Leafs is in question. After this year, the Leafs captain one more payday coming to him before he becomes a UFA. Mitch Marner, who is on LTIR, will also be a UFA after next season. The Leafs also didn't make too much noise during this year's trade deadline, so yeah, this is quite interesting.

The Leafs are in third place in the Atlantic Division, but it's a distant third behind the Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers, and they are barely ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Right now, the Leafs are looking at traveling for Game One. Currently, they'd face Florida, and the Leafs should sweep them. Even so, the Leafs need to get to second place, at least, just to get that home ice in Round 1, and let the chips fall where they may should they advance. This team definitely has the talent to get far in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Not just to win a round like they did last year, but to possibly reach the Final Four for the first time in 22 years.

The Toronto Maple Leafs can do it. They can really do it. We saw them advance last year. It can be done.

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