Wild Suggestion Emerges Involving the Maple Leafs and Two Heated Division Rivals

After a long summer chock full of change, the Toronto Maple Leafs are preparing to enter their first season without Mitch Marner since before the superstar winger broke onto the scene in 2016-17.

After Marner refused to waive his NMC ahead of the 2024-25 trade deadline, the Markham, Ontario native was set to walk as a UFA before he and the Leafs struck a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights, with Nicolas Roy heading back to Toronto in exchange for the Leafs signing Marner to a full 8-year deal worth $12M per season.

On top of Roy, the Leafs also added Matias Maccelli, Dakota Joshua, Michael Pezzetta and Henry Thrun to the fold, increasing their overall depth, though still leaving a significant hole up top that someone will have to fill.

Despite losing Marner this summer and not bringing in a bona fide star to replace him, analyst @JFreshHockey on Twitter/X is still projecting the Leafs to finish with 100 points and secure 3rd spot in the Atlantic Division. The ranking projection has them finishing ahead of the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, whom "J Fresh" is projecting to finish 4th and 5th, respectively.

"NHL Watcher", a top hockey account on Twitter/X does not agree with the ranking projection, however. In fact, Watcher presented quite the theory, suggesting that Montreal will finish ahead of both Toronto and Ottawa next season.

It's anyone's guess how the rankings will shape up when all is said and done, but it's difficult to imagine that a team who was as dominant as the Leafs were last season, winning the Atlantic Division, will slip to 4th in the division after losing Marner, but increasing the quality of their depth.

The Canadiens did shock a lot of people by qualifying for the playoffs amid a rebuild last season, and acquiring Noah Dobson this summer, but I really don't know if the acquisition of Dobson is enough to justify ranking them ahead of the Maple Leafs, who still possess a lot of star power, beginning with 3-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner Auston Matthews, superstar winger William Nylander, multi-time 30+ goalscorer John Tavares and emerging young star Matthew Knies.

The Leafs also boast an impressive goaltending tandem in Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz, as well as rookie sensation Easton Cowan, who appears determined to earn a roster spot this season as well.

It's too early to write anything in stone, but I certainly like the Maple Leafs' chances of finishing ahead of Montreal and Ottawa.