Buy or Sell: Toronto Maple Leafs the Team to Beat in the East

After advancing past the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round of the playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the shortest odds of winning the Eastern Conference. This is hardly a surprise after the Boston Bruins choked away a 3-1 lead in their series against Florida. Boston put together a historic regular season, but that is now meaningless after exiting the playoffs in the first round. 

It took nearly two decades, but the Toronto Maple Leafs finally exorcised their playoff demons and advanced past the first round. This has been a long time coming for Toronto, who’s continuously been in the headlines at this time of the year for all the wrong reasons. That’s now going to change, as the Maple Leafs are the favorites on the FanDuel Sportsbook to win the Eastern Conference at +175.

There would always be question marks about the Maple Leafs in the East until they could get past the first round. Having the Bruins alive and historically having Toronto’s number in the postseason also always hurt their chances. With Boston eliminated and Toronto having newfound momentum heading into the second round, this could be the year the Maple Leafs end their Stanley Cup drought, which last saw them win in 1967. 

The Maple Leafs are surrounded by the New Jersey Devils (+240), Carolina Hurricanes (+280), and the Florida Panthers (+450) in the Eastern Conference. These are some very quality teams, but by talent alone, none really compare to what the blue and white offer. As a result, Toronto’s listed as the team to beat in the East, and it’s truthfully hard to argue with that notion.

If Carolina were fully healthy, there’s a real case to be made that they’d be the favorites at this point, but that’s moot when you factor in some of the critical injuries they’re dealing with in their forward core. 

The Maple Leafs might not ultimately win the Eastern Conference, but that doesn’t mean they currently don’t deserve to be the favorites. They’ve gotten high-quality goaltending from Ilya Samsonov, and their star players are finally acting like stars in the postseason. Regarding overall talent, Toronto’s in a class of its own in the East. That doesn’t guarantee they’ll be playing for the Stanley Cup this season, but you at least have to buy into the fact that they’re favorites and the team to beat in the East.