WASHINGTON – The Toronto Maple Leafs will play their first playoff game in almost four years Thursday night in Washington. Almost everything about the organization has changed since that momentous day at TD Garden in Boston when the Leafs unravelled in a 5-4 Game 7 overtime loss.
Connor Brown was in Dublin watching the game on a laptop in the middle of the night with his family while Toronto-area native Mitch Marner was taking it on TV from home.
Mike Babcock was probably en route to Chicago after guiding the Detroit Red Wings to a seven-game first round series win over Anaheim.
William Nylander was still in Sweden and team president Brendan Shanahan was still working for the National Hockey League.
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In fact, the remnants of that squad essentially come down to five players and not much else: Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, Jake Gardiner, Leo Komarov and Tyler Bozak, who sat out Game 7 with an injury.
The team has changed its coach, general manager, president, scouting staff, media relations team and almost every aspect of the roster.
Heck, even the logo and jerseys are different now, altered to reflect the franchise’s more glorious past.
The Leafs of 2013 were coached by Randy Carlyle, captained by Dion Phaneuf and led in scoring by streaky American winger Phil Kessel. Their general manager was Dave Nonis. They were a wearily constructed group just hoping for a little post-season luck, a long-term path to Stanley Cup contention hard to see.
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The Leafs of today, meanwhile, are coached by Babcock, captain-less and led in scoring by rookie phenom Auston Matthews. The club is young, speedy, plenty skilled and under Shanahan’s lead, trying to craft a path which would see contention for Cups over the long haul.
“That was a good year too and a good team and now it’s different,” Komarov said. “You’ve got younger guys who just came to the league and it’s great for them, like they’ve got a chance to win right away. And if not, they still get a lot of experience.”
The Leafs lineup for Game 1 against the Capitals is likely to look something like this:
FORWARDS
Zach Hyman – Auston Matthews – William Nylander
Leo Komarov – Nazem Kadri – Connor Brown
James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Mitch Marner
Matt Martin – Brian Boyle – Kasperi Kapanen
DEFENCE
Jake Gardiner – Roman Polak
Morgan Rielly – Matt Hunwick
Martin Marincin – Connor Carrick
GOALIE
Frederik Andersen
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This was Toronto’s lineup for Game 7 against the Bruins. Almost every player is suiting up elsewhere now:
FORWARDS
*James van Riemsdyk – *Nazem Kadri – Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh)
Clarke MacArthur (Ottawa) – Mikhail Grabovski (New York) – Nikolai Kulemin (New York)
Joffrey Lupul – Joe Colborne (Colorado) – Matt Frattin (Stockton, AHL)
*Leo Komarov – Jay McClement (Carolina) – Colton Orr (Retired)
DEFENCE
Carl Gunnarsson (St. Louis) – Dion Phaneuf (Ottawa)
*Jake Gardiner – Cody Franson (Buffalo)
John-Michael Liles (Boston) – Ryan O’Byrne (Retired)
GOALIE
James Reimer (Florida)
Scratches: Bozak, Mike Kostka (Stockton), Mark Fraser (Bakersfield) Ryan Hamilton (Bakersfield), Frazer McLaren, Korbinian Holzer (Anaheim)
*Still on the team
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