Maple Leafs Should Target Stanley Cup Champion

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a successful road trip as they wrap it up Saturday night in Montreal. The Leafs have won their last three consecutive games and have won four of their last five. They beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-2 on Hockey Night in Canada. The struggling Florida Panthers 4-1 in a playoff-type game. On Thursday night, they beat a strong Hurricanes team in dominating fashion, 5-1. The Maple Leafs struggled early on in the season with injuries, goaltending, and defensive play.

Studying Why the Maple Leafs Tied to Blake Coleman Rumours are Necessary

The injury scene took a turn for the worse Thursday night as Joseph Woll left the game with a lower-body injury after the second period. Joseph Woll has signal-handedly rejuvenated the Maple Leafs with strong play and a consistent effort night in and night out. Anthony Stolarz hasn’t skated since November 11th, and shutdown defenceman Brandon Carlo and Chris Tanev remain out with no clear timeline on any of the injuries.

Contenders or Pretenders?

The Maple Leafs have looked like a more complete team, reminding us of the team that won the Atlantic Division just last season. This poses a question: are the Maple Leafs contenders or pretenders? If they want to take the next step to being a true Stanley Cup team, they will have to target a forward who can play meaningful minutes in the middle six.

When looking around the league, it is hard to say which teams are selling, especially in the Eastern Conference. The Vancouver Canucks have expressed interest in rebuilding. The Calgary Flames currently sit second-to-last in the Western Conference and are looking like a team ready for a rebuild. One name that the Maple Leafs should look to have interest in is Blake Coleman. Coleman is a player Brad Treliving is familiar with and liked having when being the general manager of the Calgary Flames. Coleman has an affordable contract at $4.9M over the next two seasons.

Why Blake Coleman is a Good Fit

Blake Coleman has had a successful NHL career; he has played over 650 games and won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021. Coleman has made his career off of being a grindy two-way centre. He is a great player for the penalty kill and can play meaningful minutes against teams best players.

This season with the Calgary Flames, Coleman has an ok start to the season with 8 goals and 4 assists for 12 points in 29 games, with a time on ice of 16:59. If Coleman were to come to Toronto, he would have the opportunity to play with better high-end forwards. He would either fit as the Leafs’ third line centre on a line with Bobby McMann and Dakota Joshua. Joshua has worked well with McMann as of late, building chemistry and adding depth scoring. Coleman would fit well with Craig Berube‘s penalty kill playing on the top line with Scott Laughon or Steven Lorentz.

Moving Forward

The Maple Leafs’ recent surge has injected new optimism into a season once clouded by inconsistency and injuries, but their path forward will depend on smart roster decisions that stabilize their lineup for the long haul. Adding a proven, defensively responsible forward like Blake Coleman could be the missing piece Toronto needs to solidify its identity and support Craig Berube’s demanding, defensive system. With the team finally resembling a contender again, the next few weeks will determine whether management doubles down on this momentum and gives the roster the complementary depth required to thrive come playoff time.