The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off one historic regular season. They’ve never had more wins (54), nor more points (115) than they compiled in 2021-22.
Superstar Auston Matthews broke countless records en route to writing his name in the annals. However, the Leafs are measured by success in the playoffs. Once again, there wasn’t any.
They had high hopes (as always), before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
This loss was even more crushing considering Toronto had the home-ice advantage and a 3-2 series lead. It dropped the last two games and went home.
Just how many more painful playoff shortcomings can their fans endure? Let’s take a closer look at their NHL betting odds for 2022-23.
Let’s check the latest NHL picks, stats, injury reports, and NHL predictions. We’ve plenty of NHL expert picks for you to consider.
Toronto Maple Leafs Current Odds
- To win Stanley Cup +1000
- To win Eastern Conference +500
- To win Atlantic Division +200
- To make playoffsYes -1200/ No +725
Player(s) to Watch
It will be the goaltender, either Matt Murray or Ilya Samsonov.
Toronto lost Jack Campbell (to the Edmonton Oilers) in the offseason, leaving a wide-open net, in this instance.
Murray had back-to-back, injury-plagued years with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was 15-23-3 with a 3.23 goals-against average (.888 save percentage) last season.
If he performs that shoddily again, Toronto won’t meet the lofty expectations of the sportsbook oddsmakers.
Samsonov, ex-Washington Capital, was 23-12-5 with a 3.02 GAA (.886 save percentage) a season ago.
If they can perform better with a better cast around them, this team might contend for a Cup. If not, you will have to once again avoid them in NHL picks come the playoffs.
- Player(s) to Watch: G Matt Murray/Ilya Samsonov
Breakout Player
The Maple Leafs are certainly excited to see what they can get out of left-wing Nicholas Robertson this season. Robertson has been very unlucky in his injury-compromised past two seasons
An injured knee cost him four weeks before a right fibula fracture a year ago saw him miss four months a year ago. There’s no question he has what it takes to be a star in this league if/when healthy.
He had 55 goals for Peterborough (2018-20) in the Ontario Hockey League, and that scoring prowess should fit right in with the Leafs.
If he can get some ice time, and carve out a regular role to provide some depth, that would be a huge boost to the Leafs.
- Breakout Watch: LW Nicholas Robertson
Toronto Maple Leafs’ Outlook
They’re unfortunately in a division that improved quite a lot over the offseason. Weirdly, if you trust the future, many of the “better” teams have become “worse” teams.
Toronto is again a strong team (on paper). Banking on them winning a Stanley Cup (first since 1867) with Murray and Samsonov in goal is not happening.
If you BetOnline, expect a playoff appearance as usual, but it’s undetermined if they are going to make some noise and advance.
