Toronto Maple Leafs: NHL News, Standings, Injuries and Opinions

The Toronto Maple Leafs have started the NHL season very well.

With a 2-1-1 record that should be perfect, the Toronto Maple Leafs are riding great goaltending, a revitalized power-play and the emergence of William Nylander to a great start.

But what about the rest of the NHL?

Anze Kopitar is leading the NHL in points and Buffalo is in first place, so there is a lot to talk about.

Thoughts on News from Around the NHL

To kick things off, let’s talk about Evander Kane.  He is suspended 21 games for faking a vaccine certificate, which is an unfathomably awful thing to do. The lack of respect for teammates,  people who work for the team, fans of his team, people he lives with or comes into contact with, doctors, nurses, and science, is astounding.

I personally don’t think a 21 game suspension is enough,  like I don’t see how Kane could even rejoin his team after this.

Tyler Bertuzzi, one of just four unvaccinated NHL players, scored four goals in a game this week.  He isn’t allowed to play games in Canada, and the question is why the NHL lets him play at all? 696 out of 700 players, plus all league officials are doing their part to fight the virus and end the pandemic.  I find it gross that a guy can go out there and earn millions of dollars in our society while being too selfish to help out and do the right thing.

In much better news, how about those Canadiens?  They are off to a beautiful start, having apparently used up all their good luck getting by the Toronto Maple Leafs last season in the playoffs.  I am just kidding.  You hate to see the lousy start, but the fact is Montreal has a good young core and their team should be fun to watch for years to come.   Expectations might have been a little jacked due to their success last season, but they’re on a good track.

Speaking of success, the Sabres off to a hot start and I for one am psyched. While It is highly likely that they’ll fall off, it’s fun to see them at the top of the NHL standings.  Other cool things: The Oilers are perfect so far and the Penguins lead the NHL in goals even though Crosby and Malkin have combined for zero minutes so far.

Finally, injury notes:  Two of the NHL’s best players are out long term.  Mark Stone of the Knights, and Nikita Kucherov are both going to miss a while.  This sucks for the NHL at large, but certainly improves the Toronto Maple Leafs President’s Trophy, Atlantic Division and Individual NHL Awards chances.

It’s almost too easy to make a joke about Kucherov returning for the playoffs, but word is that he’ll be back before the season is over.