Toronto Maple Leafs: 5 burning questions for 2018-19 season

2. Are they too reliant upon Freddie?

Heading into the 2016-17 playoffs, the Maple Leafs were the wonder story of the NHL. With a depth-ridden roster comprised of the likes of the league’s future stars, the team’s first round exit at the hands of the Washington Capitals was an obvious sign that better days were on the horizon.

That said, the club had an Achilles heel — a fairly notable one, at that. While it was widely known that the organization would pose as a dangerous threat in the postseason, few would take issue with the notion that the Maple Leafs could only go as far as their goaltender, Frederik Andersen, could take them.

The 2017-18 playoffs, then, were meant to mark the outset of a new era. The Buds had concluded their regular season by setting franchise records in wins, home victories and wins in a campaign by a Maple Leafs goaltender. But a heartbreaking Game 7 defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins was the avenue through which the team was eliminated in the first round of the postseason. It was the second time in a row that this had happened.

It’s a question that goes hand-in-hand with the lack of surety surrounding the club’s D-core and one that promises to loom at the back of hockey lovers’ minds until a degree of resolution is reached. Are the Maple Leafs too dependent upon Andersen being able to steal games on a nightly basis?

Over the course of 66 matchups (2017-18), Andersen faced 2211 shots. He was the busiest netminder in the NHL, and was left to grapple with the fallout of 136 more shots than the runner-up, Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning (2075 SA). Even more unsettling is the fact that, as a collective unit, the Maple Leafs faced 2776 shots — rendering them fourth in the league in shots against. (The only clubs that allowed more shots were the New York Islanders, New York Rangers and Florida Panthers — all of whom were absent from the postseason.)

The silver lining, nonetheless, lies in Andersen’s statistics. He finished fourth in the league in wins (38), tied for fourth in shutouts (5), and put up otherwise favorable totals (.918 SV%, 2.81 GAA) — particularly impressive in light of the heaviness of his workload. Yet if there is a lesson that can be learned from the Maple Leafs’ early exit from the playoffs, it’s that the team’s franchise goaltender — who recently finished fourth in votes for the Vezina Trophy — deserves to be more well rested heading into the postseason.

Ensuring that Freddie will not be exhausted, however, is not without its challenges. Backup netminder Curtis McElhinney’s past campaign was certainly one for the books, but whether he can remain in tip-top form is still a question that remains unanswered. And while the Maple Leafs are able to turn to one of Garret Sparks or Calvin Pickard — both of whom put up exceptional totals at the AHL level — if McElhinney falters, it is unclear if either goaltender can bridge the gap between (primarily) developmental success and winning ways in the big league.

As Buds fans await the outset of the 2018-19 season, look for head coach Mike Babcock’s reliance upon Andersen to increasingly serve as a subject of speculation.