Maple Leafs Miss Out on 5 Prime Playoff Matchups Thanks to Gary Bettman
Thanks to the recently introduced NHL playoff format, the Maple Leafs are going to miss out on what could be more favorable matchups.
It wasn't long ago that the National Hockey League
scrapped their traditional playoff format of the 1st overall seed in the conference playing the 8th seed, the 2nd vs. the 7th, and so on during the opening round.
And that has had a profound effect on what some believe could have been better success for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Since 2004, the
Maple Leafs have only moved past the opening round of the postseason on a single occasion; they've suffered heartbreaking opening-round defeats that went the distance in 2013, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2024 against the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning.
But what if starting in 2018, they instead played in the previous format that saw the 1v8 matchup in the Eastern Conference?
Leafs 1st round opponents with a 1v8 format
2018: PIT
2019: NYI
2022: BOS
2023: NYR
2024: BOS
Every single series against a true hockey market and the 2019 one would have been unhinged with Tavares. Instead we got to develop a "geographic rivalry" vs TAMPA BAY.
An opening round matchup against the Penguins in 2018 would have given the Leafs a much better chance to advance rather than having to face the Bruins again, and offered an interesting matchup with a fresh faced
Auston Matthews taking on the legendary
Sidney Crosby.
Additionally, the Islanders would have been more favorable to face in 2019 (not to mention the drama surrounding
John Tavares would have made for must-see TV).
Toronto's only postseason series victory since their 2004 Round 1 series win over the divisional foe Ottawa Senators was the 2023 win against the Lightning, where it was due to the additions of
Luke Schenn, Ryan O'Reilly and
Jake McCabe that made the difference.
However, they were promptly eliminated in 5 games against the eventual Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers in Round 2.
The Maple Leafs seemed to have been robbed of a few interesting and honestly, a bit easier matchups in the past.
But it's no excuse for the team to not succeed, with this year arguably the biggest of them all.
Previously on HockeyPatrol
| POLL |
MARS 20 | 429 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Miss Out on 5 Prime Playoff Matchups Thanks to Gary Bettman Do you prefer the current playoff format, or would you rather return to the traditional 1v8 seeding matchup? |
| Change it back | 393 | 91.6 % |
| Keep it how it is | 36 | 8.4 % |
| List of polls |