The Toronto Maple Leafs are a better team than they were a year ago.
The difference between last year’s Toronto Maple Leafs and this years is not stark, but with Giordano, Liljegren and Sandin all playing as some of the best 5v5 defenseman in the NHL, the Leafs blue-line is better today than it was on this day last year.
Ilya Samsonov is a major upgrade on what Jack Campbell was doing last year at this time as well (remember, he fell off a cliff, performance wise, in December).
While Auston Matthews isn’t going to win the Hart Trophy this year, I don’t think his current production vs last year’s really hurts the team at all.