Dobber’s Offseason Fantasy Grades: Toronto Maple Leafs

Brandon Little

2022-09-03

For the last 19 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 20th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Toronto Maple Leafs

Gone: Jack Campbell, Ilya Mikheyev, Jason Spezza, Ondrej Kase, Colin Blackwell, Ilya Lyubushkin

Incoming: Matt Murray, Ilya Samsonov, Calle Jarnkrok, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Adam Gaudette, Jordie Benn, Victor Mete, Denis Malgin

Impact of Changes:

With Campbell out of the cage in Toronto, there's a spell of uncertainty in who will be the Toronto Maple Leafs' starter this season. With the starting position being up for grabs, don't be surprised to see the Leafs rolling with the hot hand for the bulk of the season.

Out of all of the new additions outside of goaltending, Jarnkrok will be a nice piece this year. He's a talented forward who can play up and down the lineup and could provide more value than Mikheyev did. Aside from him, the Leafs really didn't add many impactful players.

Ready for Full Time:

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If Nick Robertson isn't a full-time player this season, then I'm not sure what the Leafs are doing. Give him a role in the top six, maybe on the second line, and let him play with good players. They can't bury him on the third and fourth lines and expect him to produce when he has always been a high-end player. When he sees consistent ice with the top six, you can expect him to play a big part.

If there has ever been a time and need for a rookie to come up and have an immediate impact for season and playoff success, this is it.

Fantasy Outlook:

After losing to the back-to-back Stanley Cup champs (and eventual 2022 Stanley Cup finalists) in Game 7 by one goal, the panic button was hammered by the Leafs' brass. While there have been some good signings, the trade for Murray left a lot of fans questioning the move. Aside from that, the Maple Leafs will still be an offensive juggernaut with the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, Michael Bunting, and Morgan Rielly.

While the Leafs didn't get worse, they certainly didn't get better. That doesn't mean they will be a bad team; any team with Matthews and Tavares as their one-two punch down the middle will find success. This makes it evident that there are tons of must-draft players, as well as a great selection of waiver-wire forwards who will receive opportunities in the top six when an injury occurs. So, it would be wise to monitor the health of the Maple Leafs' forwards because they will need to have the next-man-up mentality.

Lastly, and mentioned earlier, there are two brand new goalies entering the scene. You have former back-to-back Stanley Cup champ in Murray, whose performance seems to have fallen off a cliff. And then you have the unproven, highly-touted youngster in Samsonov. We could certainly see a timeshare in net this season – making both goalies worth a roster spot in most leagues.

Fantasy Grade: B

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Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
WYATT JOHNSTON DAL
KENT JOHNSON CBJ
JAKE WALMAN S.J
VALERI NICHUSHKIN COL
WILLIAM EKLUND S.J

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
YAROSLAV ASKAROV S.J
DUSTIN WOLF CGY
PYOTR KOCHETKOV CAR
SEBASTIAN COSSA DET
ALEXANDAR GEORGIEV COL

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency TOR Players
15.1 JOHN TAVARES BOBBY MCMANN MITCH MARNER
11.7 WILLIAM NYLANDER MATTHEW KNIES PONTUS HOLMBERG
11.6 ALEX STEEVES STEVEN LORENTZ CONNOR DEWAR

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