As the NHL preseason wraps up, the Toronto Maple Leafs roster is nearing completion with only a few spots remaining up for grabs.

Timashov, Petan and Korshkov battle for the final forward spot, while Martin Marincin and Rasmus Sandin appear to be third pair defence partners. The backup goaltender situation cleared up when the Leafs released Neuvirth from his PTO, clearing the way for Michael Hutchinson to open the season as Andersen’s backup.





As always, once the season starts it is nearly impossible to predict what exactly will take place, who will exceed expectations and who will falter.

Here are five bold predictions for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season.









AUSTON MATTHEWS WILL HIT THE 50 GOAL MARK





Matthews has already had a rough start with the current legal trouble, but that should not prevent him from being a dominant force in the NHL.





Entering his fourth season, Matthews appears poised to have a career year. Hitting the 50-goal mark is easily obtainable now that he was been reunited with winger William Nylander, and a new powerplay system is in place.









NHL.com





New assistant coach Paul McFarland has revamped the Leafs powerplay. With Matthews and Marner switching sides, one-timers will become a major weapon. It’s easy to see Marner feeding Matthews perfect passes that will turn into Ovechkin type goals.





The only concern will be Matthews ability to stay healthy and avoid the fluke injuries that he seems prone to get.





If he manages to stay healthy Matthews will easily hit the 50-goal mark, if not exceed it.









SANDIN WILL PLAY IN THE TOP 4 THIS SEASON





There has been no bigger early surprise than the play of Rasmus Sandin. Playing last season with the Toronto Marlies, Sandin rarely looked out of place and solidified himself as the Leafs’ top prospect.





Even with his excellent play last season, few gave him a chance of making the team this year, and understandably so. It’s not common for a 19-year-old to make an NHL club unless they were a top pick in the draft.





Looking back on it now, Sandin appears to have been an absolute late first-round steal in the 2018 draft.









Sportsnet

Throughout this preseason, he has played a very impressive 200-foot game and looks mature beyond his years.





It is not set in stone that Sandin will be on the team to start the season, but it may as well be. He has been glued to the NHL group and used on the PK during practices, with head coach Mike Babcock heaping praise on the young blueliner.





There will be ups and downs for Sandin this season, but he has all the tools to quickly move up the lineup.

If he manages to sustain this level of play, there will be a shakeup in the defence pairings.





5 PLAYERS WILL SCORE 30+ GOALS





Last season the Leafs had only 2 players who scored more than 30 goals. Matthews with 37 and Tavares with 47.





This season will be different. Marner registered 26 goals last year and should be able to hit 30 this time around. Why? Another year with John Tavares and a new look powerplay. As with Matthews, Marner will be on his off-wing which should help him to score a few more powerplay goals than last year.





No contract holdout for William Nylander this season. The winger should be headed for a career year now that he is back with Auston Matthews. The two have an undeniable chemistry that makes both of them all that much better. With no distractions and a more confident looking player, Nylander should be able to reach the 30-goal mark for the first time.









THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young





A bit of a dark horse candidate is Andreas Johnsson. With the way things stand right now, Johnsson will be on a line with Matthews and Nylander this season. Even with the predictions of his linemates scoring 30+ it’s still easy to see Johnsson reaching that mark as well. The tenacious winger has a nose for the net and has proven that he can score early in his career. Putting up 20 goals last season, it’s entirely possible that with another year of experience Johnsson can take it to another level. He’s proven everyone wrong up to this point of his career, so why bet against him?





To summarize, Matthews, Tavares, Marner, Nylander and Johnsson will score 30+ goals this season.





ANDERSEN PLAYS FEWER GAMES AND EXCELS





No goaltender has faced more shots (4169) over the past 2 seasons than Andersen. If the Maple Leafs are to finally take the next step and finally make a playoff run, they will need a fresh and healthy Andersen.





The easiest way to help ensure this is to limit his workload. Over the past few seasons, the Leafs have not used their backup as much as they maybe should have. Last season Mike Babcock completely lost faith in Garrett Sparks. The team even decided to not have him on the roster come playoff time.









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As it stands right now, Michael Hutchinson will be the backup to start the season. It will be crucial for him to be an above-average backup for the Leafs to get the most out of Andersen.





LEAFS VS. BRUINS WITH A DIFFERENT OUTCOME





Once again, the Leafs and Bruins will meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tampa Bay will continue to dominate the league, resulting in this familiar matchup.





This season the Leafs have a team that is capable of finishing second in the division and earning home-ice advantage in the playoffs. After back to back seasons of tough rounds against the Bruins, the Leafs will finally break through and advance to the second round.









NHL.com

A more complete forward group, improved defence and a more rested Anderson should give the Leafs exactly what they need to break the curse.









All or none of these outcomes could come true, but that’s the fun of making bold predictions.





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