First off, The Panthers and the Maple Leafs will be meeting in the second round, therefore confirming a matchup to the Leafs' advantage since they played each other on 4 occasions this year winning every one of them. While we know playoffs are a whole different game and that odds mean nothing, this is setting up to be a heck of a matchup.
A few days prior to the deadline, the Bruins pulled a blockbuster deal notably sending their 2023 First Round Pick to the Capitals to acquire Dmitry Orlov and Garnett Hathaway. The Caps then flipped this pick in order to acquire Rasmus Sandin from the Leafs. Now that the Bruins have been eliminated from the playoffs, it only gives the Maple Leafs a better Draft pick than expected.
Hard to imagine we'd be saying that at this time of the year, but the Leafs will be heading into a matchup against the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs second round. Can they pull through and make it to the Conference Final?
