BOSTON, MA - APRIL 19: Morgan Rielly #44 of the Toronto Maple Leafs shoots against the Boston Bruins in Game Five of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the TD Garden on April 19, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

Mitch Marner Going to Europe Could be Useful to the Toronto Maple Leafs

Mitch Marner Going to Europe Could be Useful to the Toronto Maple Leafs by Jeff Borsuk

Toronto Maple Leafs: Looking Back on the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by Spencer Teixeira

This year, the Toronto Maple Leafs will seek to end their term as the team with the longest time in the NHL without a Stanley Cup victory.

Whether or not the Toronto Maple Leafs succeed in their goal to once again be the champions of the NHL, the upcoming season should be a good one.

The Leafs have one of the best rosters in team history, and they should be primed to be one of the better teams in the NHL this year.

In the spirit of the upcoming season, here are some of the individual player milestones that we can look forward to seeing this year.

Toronto Maple Leafs Milestones

Before being traded this summer, Nazem Kadri was the Leafs active points leader with 357 career points.

If Jake Gardiner does not return, the active points leader will be Morgan Rielly with 243 career points. If Rielly can manage 51 points this season, he’ll move into a tie for 38th all-time with James van Riemsdyk.

Rielly is also eight assists short of 200 for his career. (stats from quanthockey.com). Additionally, Rielly is already 10th all time among Leafs defensemen in scoring, and he should move comfortably past Todd Gill and into seventh place by the end of next season. He needs 85 points to move into the top five.

Interesting, since he’s so young, but Mitch Marner is actually the next highest active scorer, and if he can hit 100 points this season, he’ll move into 33rd place all-time.

Should Marner score 33 goals, he’ll hit 100 for his career.

The Toronto Maple Leafs all-time goal scoring leader is Mats Sundin with 420 goals. Auston Matthews, however, is hot on his tail, having racked up a 111 goals in the last three seasons.

A 50 goal season would tie Auston Matthews with Nazem Kadri for 25th all-time on the Leafs scoring list.

Based on his current pace, Matthews could move into the top five all-time by the time his current five year contract expires. If he stays with the Toronto Maple Leafs for his entire career, he’ll catch Sundin eventually.

I always think it’s interesting to watch players climb the all-time charts, but given the age of this team, it’s going to be a few years before they start dominating the all-time lists.

Still, it will be fun to watch.