IMHO
this is the most talented Leaf team I've seen since, well...ever.
Agreed.
Mikheyev (15-20 G, 50-65 P) - Matthews (45-60 G, 90-110 P) - Nylander (20-30 G, 65 - 85 P) --> We need a healthy Auston and a consistent pair of AM and WN to have any shot at the high end totals.
Hyman (10-15 G, 30-40 P) - Tavares (40-50 G, 85-95 P) - Marner ( 25-35 G, 95 - 110 P) --> Need to be healthy more or less and Mitch has to sign and not pull a Willy on and off the ice.
Johnsson - 15-25 G, 35-45 P) - Kerfoot ( 10-15 G, 35-45 P) - Kapanen (15-25 G, 40-50 P) --> Very solid 3rd line with speed and scoring threats. Lots of inconsistency is likely however.
Moore (10-15 G, 15-25 P) - Spezza (10-15 G, 25-30 P) - Agostino/ Marchment/ Petan/ Aberg/ Goat (5-10 G, 15-20 P total not each) --> Spezza's babysitting services.
Rielly (10-15 G, 55-65 P) - Ceci (5-10 G, 15-25 P) --> Ceci needs to be a defensive anchor and not a plug. I think playing with an elite puck mover like Rielly will make Ceci's life much easier (he had to play with Harpur last year..)
Muzzin (5-10 G, 25-35 P) - Barrie (10-15 G, 55-65 P) --> Should be Leafs top pairing most likely.
Dermott (5-10 G, 15-20 P) - Liljegren (0-5 G, 10-15 P)/ Harpur (0-5 G, 5-10 P)/ Sandin (0-5 G, 10-15 P) --> Need a solid puck mover once Dermy is back. Gives us an excellent mobile bottom pairing.
Andersen (.915+ save hopefully)
Backup (???)
By my account the point leaders should be in the following order and all of them should have over 40 points.
Matthews/Marner
Tavares
Nylander
Mikheyev
Rielly/ Barrie
AJ/Kerf/ KK
That's 10 players who should put up over 40 points. For comparisons, last years offensive juggernaut the Tampa Bay Lightening had 9 guys with over 40 and 1 guy at 39 points. So basically 10 guys. We should have an elite top end offensive team and exceptional depth offensively as well. It will all come down to our defense holding up (which it finally should), our specialty teams not sucking (which is going to be interesting with the new hires) and FREDDY PLAYOFFS NOT SHOWING UP. We need Fred to play like he knows how in the playoffs. So far it's been 3 years and he's been the biggest reason for us winning and losing games. Typically you want your goalies to give you a chance to win every game. Freddy doesn't do that in the playoffs. Hopefully this is finally the year he overcomes those problems. Also his game 7 situations too.