Leafs sit 4th in the league and have been missing Matthews and Nylander for a significant portion of the year. Adding Tavares plus Rielly and Andersen playing out of their minds puts the Leafs at 1st in today's rankings, despite the Jets being the better team last year. The Jets have an extremely potent roster but haven't been playing their best hockey for most of the season so far. At the end of the day, I don't think much separates either team. Andersen and Rielly will likely cool down somewhat and the Jets are hoping for better play from key contributors like Ehlers and Hellebyuck. I consider both teams strong contenders.
1. Toronto
2. Winnipeg
Pretty big gap
3. Calgary
4. Montreal
5. Edmonton
6. Vancouver
7. Ottawa
Calgary is really the only other Canadian team who's got a shot at the playoffs this year IMO. The Habs have done very well in the beginning of the year with Domi being a revelation. I considered them the worst of the bunch going into the year and they've really done well to prove me wrong. They've started to cooldown a bit, which was to be expected, though getting Weber back might give them another shot in the arm. Rebuilding is still their best bet, but adding Domi and Suzuki to their org was fantastic. Edmonton is a disaster feat. McDavid, Vancouver needs a lot more pieces, and Ottawa is... full of Leafs fans right now tbh.