Toronto Maple Leafs players leave the ice after losing Game 7 to the Bruins in Boston on Wednesday. (Charles Krupa/Associated Press) Wednesday's Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins put a premature end to what was a historic season for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team took big leaps, with the young core of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander making strides in their game. Frederik Andersen established new franchise bests in the goaltending category. The defensive core of Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner had big seasons offensively. Plus rookie call-ups Travis Dermott, Kasperi Kapanen, and Andreas Johnsson established themselves as lineup staples for the future. While the Leafs were able to reach franchise highs during the regular season, it's clear the team is not yet ready to reach that next step as they learned some valuable lessons during this year's playoff run. Let's look at five takeaways from this season and where the team needs to go from here to continue their ascension into contention. Solid season for Andersen, but clearly overworked Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images Andersen was the unquestionable MVP of the Leafs this season for a number of reasons. He recorded a franchise-best 38 wins, with a respectable .918 save percentage and 5 shutouts across 66 games played in 2017-18. That last number mentioned also highlights a glaring issue that needs to be addressed: Andersen's workload needs to be lightened. Across those 66 appearances, Andersen faced the most shots of any goalie in the NHL (2,211) while also making the most saves in the league (2,029). That's more shots than what goalies Andrei Vasilevsky and Connor Hellebuyck had and these two are Vezina Trophy finalists this year. This is further exemplified by the fact that Toronto gave up the fourth most shots in the league and allowed the most of any playoff team this season. Had it not been for the heroics of Andersen, the Leafs would be in a much tougher position defensively and unfortunately, he likely ran out of gas in the playoffs. I have written about this issue last season, and the fact the problem is still prevalent a year later is a scary thought. While Curtis McElhinney had a solid season as the Leafs backup, it's unclear if the soon to be 35-year-old be able to repeat that success next season and beyond. He is under contract for another year, but it's hard to tell if he'll be enough to ease Andersen's minutes. It's possible the team could explore internal and external options to find a goalie who can gain Mike Babcock's confidence enough to lower Andersen's game appearances into the 50s. If not, 2018-19 will be another draining year for him. The kids are alright Photo by Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire The young core led by Matthews, Marner, and Nylander was able to avoid a sophomore slump for the most part and had solid seasons offensively. The young core led by Matthews, Marner, and Nylander was able to avoid a sophomore slump for the most part and had solid seasons offensively.