Why the Toronto Maple Leafs will win a Cup before the Winnipeg Jets

Both fueled by youthful drive and unbelievable goaltenders, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Winnipeg Jets are set to be the future of the Canadian hockey scene. But which team is better?

In FanSided’s NHL Face-Off series, two writers argue two sides of a hot-button hockey issue. We’ll post both pieces, and then our NHL editor will evaluate the arguments and determine a winner. 

When you take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Winnipeg Jets, it’s not surprising that they are often compared to one another. Even their perennial young all-stars in Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine, respectively, have been heavily compared since their draft day. This is a time when those comparisons are even more extensive, as both the Leafs and the Jets are currently fighting for the title of the best Canadian team.

The Montreal Canadiens’ season has been nothing short of a disaster with injuries and management issues. The Edmonton Oilers are trying to live off of Connor McDavid, Cam Talbot and Leon Draisaitl, effectively burning them all out. The Vancouver Canucks are struggling through their rebuild process, but have great hope in Brock Boeser. And let’s not even get started on the Ottawa Senators. That’s a whole other article in itself.

With the current state of Canadian teams and both the Leafs and Jets in playoff spots with potential to make long runs, let’s break down why the Leafs will be the first team to win a cup.

The Background

Both of these teams are coming off of rebuilds done right. The Leafs and the Jets were the the recipients of the No. 1 and No. 2 picks, respectively, in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. This led to the Leafs finding their new star center in American Matthews and the Jets finding the top scorer they were missing in Finnish winger Laine. These major draft picks have combined with smart management and proper development of youth prospects to allow for both of these teams to make the jump into the upper echelon of the league this year.

The Case

Both of these teams have potent offenses. Laine currently sits second in the league in goals with 44, behind only Alexander Ovechkin. The Jets have also seen consistent growth in the production of the young core of Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers, and captain Blake Wheeler is putting together another fine couple of seasons. With all that being said, the Leafs have the upper hand in this department. Matthews has missed 20 games this season and he has still been able to produce 33 goals — 32 of those of at even strength. The line of William Nylander, Matthews, and Zach Hyman is without a doubt one of the best lines in hockey. Pair that with Mitch Marner, who seems to be finding new ways to skate circles around defenders every game, and you have a high-octane offense.

On the defensive end, the Jets mostly have the advantage due to a healthier mix of veteran presence with skill than the Leafs. The Jets have received solid years from all of their defensemen, including Dustin Byufglien, who started the year slow but has since ramped it up, cementing himself as one of the most feared defenders in this league. He currently has 42 points in 66 games this season. In comparison to a Leafs team that has been hosting an assortment of defenders all season with the only three true consistent defenders being Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner and Ron Hainsey, the Jets defensive core has more depth.

Goaltending has been a hot point of contention for both of these teams and will continue to be as both teams stay under the microscope, but the Leafs have really shored up the hole between the posts that haunted them for so many years. The Leafs acquired Frederik Andersen in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks for first- and second-round picks. They immediately signed the Danish goalie to a five-year, $25 million contract that locks him up until the end of the 2020-21 season. Andersen has been nothing short of superb since he started donning the blue and white and has continued to show excellent growth, effectively silencing many of his doubters this season with a career season. He has been the Leafs’ MVP all season long and continues to strive in the hectic environment while the Leafs continue to try to mold a young and inexperienced defense core. He is 6-0-2 in games this season where he has faced 40 or more shots and he leads the league in total number of saves. He is also backed by Curtis McElhinney, who was just named the league’s third star for the week. He is also recording a career year with four shutouts and has been excellent as of late with the injury to Andersen.

The Jets have seen the light in Connor Hellebuyck, who has been nothing short of fantastic this season, but they have yet to garner anything from Michael Hutchinson and especially Steve Mason, who has been a major disappointment. The Jets signed Mason in the offseason and in his first season with the Jets he has posted a 4-6-1 record with a 3.18 GAA and a .906 save percentage. Not stellar numbers by any means, and he’s been out twice this season with two separate concussions. All in all, the Leafs look have better stability among their goalies, this giving them the win in this category.

The coaching and management matchup is one of the largest disparities between these two teams.

Mike Babcock is one of the greatest coaches to ever coach in the NHL, and you would be hard-pressed to find anybody that would disagree. The Saskatchewan native has been to the playoffs 12 times in his career, the Stanley Cup finals three times and he won it all once with the Detroit Red Wings. He has led multiple Canadian national teams to victory and he is surrounded by a great team in Brendan Shanahan and Lou Lamoriello. Even with Lamoriello’s future still up in the air, the Shanaplan has been followed to the tee and because of that the upper management has been able to set up the Leafs on all fronts to win. The Jets are spearheaded by former Leafs coach Paul Maurice, who does not have the winning record that his counterpart has and has only been to the playoffs five times in his 19 seasons in the league and is yet to win his first Stanley Cup. He is paired with a solid GM in Kevin Cheveldayoff, but in this situation and until there are changes in either teams front office, the Leafs look to be the clear favorite.

The Takeaway Point

The Leafs have the edge on the Jets in terms of offense, goaltending tandems and management and coaching. The Jets depth on the defensive end attributes to a more consistent defensive core than that of the Leafs, which has allowed the most shots on net out of any team in the league.

These advantages for the Leafs outweigh what the Jets do better and make the case that Leafs will win a Stanley Cup before the Jets. They have a goalie who is already used to playoff workload and excessive high volume work and a coach who has already won everything there is to win in the NHL.

Next: Each NHL Team's Biggest 'What if" Moment

Both of these teams are very close to hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup and they are without a doubt the two best Canadian teams in the league right now. They both play young, vibrant, quick hockey with high-flying offenses and solid goaltending. Expect this comparison to continue for a long time going forward if the rest of the Canadian teams stay the way they are currently.

Not convinced? Read David Rouben’s opposing take here.