3 former Maple Leafs players thriving elsewhere to start 2023-24

1. Erik Gustafsson, New York Rangers

One of the best signings of the offseason was the New York Rangers adding Erik Gustafsson. The Swedish defenseman has been exactly what the Rangers need in the absence of Adam Fox. That's right, Gustafsson is replacing one of the best defensemen in the NHL. The Rangers have been the top team in the Metropolitan Division thanks to their ability to overcome injuries. Gustafsson was tops among the players stepping up his game.

Gustafsson has 10 points to start the season. He's been on the top line of the Rangers defense with Ryan Lindgren. He's averaged 20:50 of ice time in the month of November, and he just recorded over 26 minutes in their most recent game, a shootout win to the Columbus Blue Jackets where he had an assist to push his points streak to four games.

He was quite good offensively last season with the Washington Capitals. Then, he was traded to the Maple Leafs, and something just didn't click. He was on the bench for most of the playoffs, only getting into one game of the Lightning series and one game of the Panthers series. He did score in that one game, but it wasn't enough to secure a win for the Maple Leafs.

Most assumed Gustafsson would move on as the Leafs didn't find much use for him, but it's clearly a Toronto problem. Gustafsson has been a revelation in New York. Nobody can claim the moment and the attention was too big for him. He's in New York now, the biggest media market in the world. What went wrong here? It's too late to figure it out, but the Leafs need to know so they don't make the same mistake again.