How Toronto Maple Leafs Could Fare In All-Canadian Division For 2020-21 Season

The weirdness of pro sports amid a pandemic might birth something pretty cool for the NHL next season: an all-Canadian division.

Canada’s continued border closure for non-essential travel poses a challenge for teams hoping to cross in either direction as they would in a typical season. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN earlier this month that the league could get around to some extent by creating “competition within the league among the Canadian clubs.”

That’s corporate-speak for an all-Canadian division. We’ll hold our excitement in for now, but the thought of such a thing is really fun.

“It would be a cool experience,” Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner told the Canadian Press. “We’ve just got to be ready for whatever happens.”

And of course, we’ve got to be ready for how divisional realignment would affect the Maple Leafs, who went 8-3-4 (109-point pace) against their fellow countrymen last year.

Here’s a quick summary of how Toronto fared against the other six Canadian teams in 2019-20, and a look ahead at how these teams changed in the offseason.

Ottawa Senators

Key departures: Anthony Duclair, Mark Borowiecki, Craig Anderson, Bobby Ryan

Key additions: Evgenii Dadonov, Alex Galchenyuk, Matt Murray, Tim Stutzle

Toronto’s 2019-20 record vs. Ottawa: 4-0-0

The Battle of Ontario was a lopsided one last year, as the Maple Leafs took advantage of the second-last-place Senators.

Ottawa might not compete for a playoff spot in 2020-21, but they’ll certainly look better on the ice — and not just because they nailed their rebranded jerseys.

Dadonov is on the cusp of his first 30-goal season and Murray has more Stanley Cups than the Maple Leafs over the past 55 years. These teams are used to playing each other regularly, but some of the new guys should add a competitive flavor to the matchups.

Montreal Canadiens

Key departures: Max Domi, Ilya Kovalchuk, Dale Weise

Key additions: Josh Anderson, Tyler Toffoli, Jake Allen

Toronto’s 2019-20 record vs. Montreal: 0-1-2

Montreal definitely seemed better than its record in 2019-20. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Canadiens had a 54.43 percent Corsi for rate last year at 5-on-5, second only to the Vegas Golden Knights.

With the additions of Anderson and Toffoli, the Canadiens should certainly improve on their mediocre 31-31-9 mark from a year ago.

Anderson in particular, with his size, rocket shot and physical play, is the type of player the Maple Leafs would’ve loved to add this offseason. Then again, Toronto’s Wayne Simmonds rejected a more lucrative offer from Montreal to join the Maple Leafs.

As with Ottawa, Montreal is a team Toronto already sees a handful of times each season. The Maple Leafs held the Canadiens to just one win from 2017-19 before dropping all three matchups last season. There should be some great games between these squads next year.

Winnipeg Jets

Key departures: Cody Eakin, Mark Letestu

Key additions: Paul Stastny, Nate Thompson, Derek Forbort

Toronto’s 2019-20 record vs. Winnipeg: 1-0-1

You’d be hard-pressed to find a pair of teams with a deeper group of top-six forwards than the Jets and Maple Leafs.

Paul Stastny is back in town to serve as the Jets’ second center, while the Maple Leafs will almost certainly bump Ilya Mikheyev into a second-line spot to replace the departed Kasperi Kapanen. Otherwise, these groups will look the same as the ones that filled the net with regularity last year (the Jets had five 20-goal scorers, while the Maple Leafs had four).

And of course, the narrative of Auston Matthews (No. 1 pick in 2016) vs. Patrik Laine (No. 2 pick) is still alive. Matthews has more goals and points than Laine in fewer games, but neither player has inspired much team success.

Calgary Flames

Key departures: T.J. Brodie, Erik Gustafsson, Travis Hamonic, Cam Talbot

Key additions: Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Josh Leivo

Toronto’s 2019-20 record vs. Calgary: 0-1-1

Plenty of hometown rivals in this one for Toronto, as the Flames feature five players who hail from the Ontario capital: Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett, Chris Tanev and Josh Leivo.

Calgary tried to shore up its goaltending situation by adding free agent Jacob Markstrom, who finished fourth in Vezina voting last year after posting a 2.75 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.

For what it’s worth, the Maple Leafs bested Markstrom in their lone opportunity last season (three goals on 25 shots in a 4-1 win). Perhaps they’ll get three or four cracks at him this year.

Edmonton Oilers

Key departures: Andreas Athanasiou, Tomas Jurco, Markus Granlund

Key additions: Tyson Barrie, Dominik Kahun, Kyle Turris

Toronto’s 2019-20 record vs. Edmonton: 1-1-0

The Maple Leafs don’t get to see Connor McDavid very often, which is definitely to their benefit. McDavid has five goals and 15 points in nine career games against the Maple Leafs, including this beauty from the last time he was at Scotiabank Arena.

Filth. Anyway, there’s added intrigue in this matchup now that Tyson Barrie plays in Edmonton, where he hopes to be the offensive force from the blueline that he never was in Toronto.

And this month, McDavid and Matthews have been working out together in Arizona. There’s more familiarity with these teams than you might think.

Vancouver Canucks

Key departures: Jacob Markstrom, Chris Tanev, Josh Leivo, Tyler Toffoli

Key additions: Braden Holtby, Nate Schmidt

Toronto’s 2019-20 record vs. Vancouver: 2-0-0

The Canucks were the Canada’s most successful team last year, taking Vegas to seven games in the second round of the playoffs. They were the second-highest scoring Canadian team (behind Toronto), but they appear to have lost more than they gained this offseason.

With that said, young stars like Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes are only going to get better. Holtby and Thatcher Demko have a chance to form one of the league’s premier two-headed monsters in goal, too.

And hey, maybe the Maple Leafs’ new assistant coach, Manny Malhotra, can offer up some trade secrets from his former employer.