Maple Leafs Quarter Century Team reaction: Selections boast a couple all-time greats and current core
On Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled their Quarter-Century teams, naming their best players since 2000, voted on by broadcasters and former players.
As each team releases its Quarter-Century squad, we’ll provide analysis on Daily Faceoff as to what the voters got right and wrong. Today, we look at the so-called center of the hockey universe.
THE TEAM
First Team
FORWARDS
Mitch Marner
Auston Matthews
Mats Sundin
DEFENSEMEN
Tomas Kaberle
Morgan Rielly
GOALIE
Ed Belfour
Second Team
FORWARDS
Phil Kessel
William Nylander
John Tavares
DEFENSEMEN
Bryan McCabe
Dion Phaneuf
GOALIE
Curtis Joseph
WHAT THEY GOT RIGHT
It was probably a lock that all five players that have been a member of this current era of the team would find their way onto one of the two teams. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly have been the driving force for what has been the team’s longest postseason streak (if you count the play-in round in 2020) since the 1970s, and are climbing their way up the franchise scoring leaderboards. Even with the lack of playoff success, it shouldn’t be a surprise that all five players made the cut.
Beyond them, a couple of legacy players made the teams as well, most notably Mats Sundin. Sundin could arguably be the greatest Leaf of all-time, or is at least in the top five, and the 2000s saw him at his best with the Leafs, whether it was memorable goals and performances during their playoff runs before the lockout, or carrying some terrible teams post-lockout. Tomas Kaberle was another longtime Leaf during the 2000s, and while he’s not considered an all-time great, he was their most consistent offensive defenseman during his time in Toronto.
Considering that the Leafs’ biggest memories this millennium have either been those pre-lockout teams or the current era, it would have been easy to overlook players who played for the team during the 11-year stretch that saw them make the playoffs just once. And yet, both Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf got nods to the second team as two of the few bright stars during a bleak era of Leafs history, and it’s nice to see them receive the appreciation considering how much scrutiny was placed on them during their time here.
WHAT THEY GOT WRONG
The Leafs haven’t exactly been blessed with consistently great goaltending during the 21st century. They haven’t even had goalies stay with the team for a consistent amount of time. Considering that, it’s easy to see how Ed Belfour got the nod as one of the goaltenders for the two teams. But first team? Especially ahead of Joseph, who had a couple of Eastern Conference Final runs with the Leafs in 2000 and 2002. It feels like they picked him for his play throughout his career, and not with the Leafs. He had a fine three-season stint with the Leafs so it’s far from blasphemous, but there are two, maybe even three goalies that you could make the case for being selected over Belfour, especially for first team.
BIGGEST SNUB
Considering that Belfour was already a questionable choice, it easily makes Frederik Andersen the biggest snub from this team. It was likely his lack of playoff success that left him off the team, but he was the closest thing the Leafs had to a long-time consistent goalie in the 21st century. He has the most wins and games played out of any goalie this century, and only Jack Campbell and Jonathan Bernier have a higher save percentage than him among goalies with at least 50 starts. James Reimer also could have got some consideration for the team since he is second in wins and games played in the 2000s, and might have the best single-season performance by a Leafs goalie this century for how he carried the 2012-13 Leafs all season, all the way to Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Also, there might be a minute case for Jake Gardiner as well. He’s fourth among Leafs defensemen in the 21st century in scoring, and was a key par of their top four during the 2010s. He got his fair share of scrutiny during his time in Toronto, but it’s not like Phaneuf or Bryan McCabe didn’t either. That said, being the poster child for “great defenseman who is prone to the most horrific turnovers” didn’t play in Gardiner’s favour. If his hectic style of defense isn’t your taste, perhaps a Jake Muzzin or a T.J. Brodie could have gotten a nod for their steady defensive play when they were here. That said, both had tough endings as a Leaf, whether due to injury or poor play, so it makes sense to go for the longevity and off-ice qualities of Phaneuf and McCabe in the end.
VERDICT
The Maple Leafs had three very distinct eras in the 21st centruy, and considering one of them was a really bad era, it made the choices for these two teams very easy. You knew the core five of the current era were making it, you knew Mats Sundin, Phil Kessel and Tomas Kaberle were making it, and beyond that, it was about filling in the blanks. A lack of strong candidates for defense and goaltending could leave some choices up for debate, but there isn’t a choice that sticks out like a sore thumb.