How The 2026-27 Maple Leafs Reminds Me of the 2009-10 Era Maple Leafs
The Goaltenders:
Sergei Bobrovsky= JS Giguere
Old veteran former cup champions from sunny non-traditional markets. Hail Mary to try and save the goaltending
Anthony Stolarz= Vesa Toskala
Perennial backups who had good numbers with their former teams and behind an elite Russian goaltender, but can’t handle the pressure of a full time starter role
Arturs Akhtyamov= Jonas Gustavsson
The new hot international goalies that fans put too much hope into after success outside the NHL
The Defenseman:
Darren Raddysh= Mike Komisarek
Right shot defensemen coming off career years with a divisional rival that we signed to a long term and high AAV contract
Emil Andrae= Ian White
Youngish and small puck moving defensemen with a little offensive upside but are best as a bottom pair guy
Oliver Ekman-Larsson= Francois Beauchemin
Veteran blueliners that played most of their career in the pacific division and still have some game left despite their age. But are too heavily relied upon to be completely effective
Jake McCabe= Dion Phaneuf
Our tough-nose defensemen that throw their weight around. Both are expected to play too many minutes for their skill level and never really live up to the offensive numbers that they’re capable of with their hard slap shot
Chris Tanev= Luke Schenn
Shot blocking and hitting machines that play too many minutes and love to chip the puck out instead of passing
Morgan Rielly= Tomas Kaberle
Long time puck moving Leaf that’s passed their prime, doesn’t shoot from the point, and needs to move on (and win a cup with Boston)
Troy Stetcher= Jeff Finger
Offensively minded defensemen that will play half the games as people hold their breath every time they touch the puck
The Forwards:
Auston Matthews= Phil Kessel
American born snipers that have a lot of expectations and amazing shooting skills but they don’t seem to care too much. Matthews loves hot girls, Kessel loves hot dogs.
William Nylander= Mikhael Grabovski
Highly skilled forward that have a lot of talent but seem checked out a lot of games and should have more points than they do if they had more effort/consistency
Matthew Knies= Aleksei Ponikarovsky
Power forwards that need to use their size and go to the net more but still put in an honest effort
Gavin McKenna= Tyler Bozak
Rookies out of US college that are expected to do too much too soon (a stretch I know…)
John Tavares= Matt Stajan
Two Ontario boys that are good on the draw and are the true leader of the team
Jack Roslovic= Nikolai Kulemin
Skilled wingers that often try to be too fancy and are inconsistent in their games. But still can put up 20 goals and are a decent second powerplay option
Easton Cowan= John Mitchell
Young Ontario-born players every Leafs fan thinks is going to be better than they are but they’re just a decent third/fourth line option
Colton Sissons= Lee Stempniak
Overpaid bottom six two-way forwards that kills penalties and can score 10-15 goals
Max Domi= Niklas Hagman
Undersized power forwards with lots of skill who are very inconsistent and are often injured
Teddy Blueger= Jason Blake
Hard working and tenacious players that can take the occasional draw and can move up and down the lineup
Dakota Joshua= Jamal Mayers
Big black bottom six power forwards that can skate well, love to dump and chase, and have stone hands
Nick Paul= Wayne Primeau
Veteran faceoff and defensive specialists who can still skate decent despite size and age. Both have famous brothers. Wayne is related to long time NHLer Keith Primeau, while Nick is related to both Logan and Jake.
Colton Orr= Brandon Duhaime
The PIM specialist and goon of the team
Conclusion:
We’re going to suck…
*Yes, some of these players never actually played together as some were traded or traded for mid-season (the Phaneuf and Giguere deals) but I felt these matched up best