Led by eventual Calder winner Auston Matthews, the team catapulted from dead last in the league to finishing tied for 13th and made the playoffs in a full 82-game season for the first time since 2004. Toronto iced a historic rookie class, played at a ridiculously high pace, and finished fifth in goals for. They were easily one of the most exciting teams in the league.
Watching this Leafs team last season, you couldn’t help but think to yourself, “they are only going to get older, stronger, and better.” That is almost certainly true individually, but on a team level, parity rules the day in a hard-cap NHL.