There was a little throwback feel to the Maple Leafs’ attack against Columbus, the kind that brings to mind those old Oilers teams that just kept coming. Edmonton at the top of the graphic does that to you. It calls up that familiar image of wave after wave of offense, with Grant Fuhr backstopping the chaos and somehow making it all work.
Fuhr’s career save percentage sits at .887, which doesn’t jump off the page by modern standards. But the point of those Oilers wasn’t pretty numbers in a vacuum.
It was that he stopped enough pucks at the right times to let a relentless team keep pressing. That’s the energy the Leafs flashed in their own way when they were flying against Columbus: keep coming, keep shooting.
The graphic also spells out why Edmonton and Toronto are sitting near the top. The Oilers’ top five players have combined for 77 points, while the Maple Leafs are close behind at 63.
Toronto is in second place, ahead of Vegas, Utah and Carolina, and the spread across the lineup suggests this isn’t just one player dragging the offense along. Matthews leads the group, but the production is getting shared around enough to keep the pressure on.
That’s where the optimism comes from for Maple Leafs fans. When Toronto plays with pace, gets pucks deep and stays on the attack, it can look difficult to handle.
The Columbus game gave a glimpse of that. It doesn’t make the Leafs the old Oilers, and it certainly doesn’t tell us what the whole season will look like.
But it does show what they can be when everything is clicking.
Edmonton is still setting the standard in this graphic, and that fits if their top scorers are producing at that rate. For Toronto, the challenge is making that kind of offense a regular feature without turning every night into a wide-open race.
The best version of this team is not just about scoring a lot. It’s about using that offense to take control.
That’s the appeal of the Maple Leafs right now: they have the firepower to turn games into something frantic in the best possible way. If they can bring that kind of pressure more often, there could be more nights that feel like a nod to a different era.
Strong goalie play and special teams, including the Maple Leafs’ penalty kill, would only help. The question is whether they can keep it going over a season.
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There is still plenty standing in the way of that opportunity. His rights remain with Admiral Vladivostok, and the club does not sound inclined to move him, while Torontos own roster picture leaves little easy room at the top level. Even so, Der-Arguchintsev is still pushing for a chance, and the most realistic opening may come by way of the Toronto Marlies as he tries to turn this into one more shot at the NHL. [Read more 🡒]