The Toronto Maple Leafs should be known as “next year’s team.” Each season the Leafs are hyped by compliant Canadian media. Of course, these NHL betting odds “journalists” know their livelihood depends on telling fans what they want to hear. Certainly, Toronto is an entertaining and skilled regular-season type team. But the Stanley Cup Playoffs are where the rubber meets the road in the NHL. And last year was emblematic of a classic Maple Leaf choke job. Accordingly, many gamblers say, “there they go again.”
2022-23 NHL Futures Toronto Maple Leafs SBG Odds
| Prop | Odds |
|---|---|
| Stanley Cup Odds | +900 |
| Eastern Conference Odds | +375 |
| Atlantic Division Odds | +200 |
The Maple Leafs Remain All History
Overall, the Toronto Leafs are the most popular and valuable NHL betting franchise in the NHL. Toronto has won 13 Stanley Cup championships. But none since 1967. Consider that 1967 was the final Original Six season. The Great Expansion, when the NHL doubled in six from six to 12 teams, came that autumn. Accordingly, the fact that the Leafs have not won a championship in the expansion era is humiliating.
Naturally, the Maple Leafs have used skill and offense to entertain. And they earned high seeds in the postseason in the past several seasons. But the Maple Leafs showed their lack of toughness with annual playoff flops. Toronto fans always believe that this year will be different. And their money is plentiful enough to change the betting lines. But Wise Guys will use the adage about the definition of insanity. Specifically, that is to expect a different result by doing the same thing repeatedly.
SBG Odds Overview – 2022-23 Toronto Maple Leafs
Last year the Toronto Maple Leafs finished with an online betting record of 54-21-7. The Leafs finished 2nd in the Atlantic Division. Toronto ranked 2nd for goal scoring, 1st for power play efficiency, 19th for goals against, and 8th for penalty killing.
Toronto led the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 in their first-round series. Thus, local fans were “planning the parade route.” But Toronto fell like an autumn leaf and was eliminated in a 2-1 game seven home loss.
General manager Kyle Dubas is a new wave type. Dubas believes 100% in analytics. But hockey is much more of a random game than baseball or even football and basketball. And in the playoffs, hockey is a game of grit and heart as much as skill. Dubas is yet to grasp this fact fully. Now he faces a win or else season.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe was Dubas’ hand-picked successor to the old school Mike Babcock. The change came midway through the 2019-20 season. Dubas has an impressive regular season record of 116-50-19 but is 8-11 in the playoffs. Dubas is learning the frustration of Babcock. Following his honeymoon season, he lamented how difficult it was to get responsible defensive play.
The Leafs have turned the page in goal and will go with a combination of Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray. Murray arrived from the Ottawa Senators. Of course, Murray is best known for his Stanley Cup days with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Samsonov started 44 games for the Washington Capitals last year with a .896 save percentage.
Namely, Auston Matthews lit the lamp 60 times last season to pace the Leafs’ attack. His partner, Mitchell Marner, added 35 goals and 62 assists.