Toronto Maple Leafs Player Projections for 2011-12

by Gus Katsaros on August 12, 2011 in Opinion - 272 Comments

An annual tradition, here’s the scoring predictions for the 2011-12 version of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I won’t get too much into player specifics since my scouting reports are in the Maple Leafs Annual with further expansion in the McKeen’s Yearbook to be released soon.

Some minor commentary on Kulemin winning the scoring title. When coming up with predictions, the hold of the top spot was so delicate any slump/streak could cost some player the scoring crown. If it wasn’t Kulemin, it could be Grabovski coming off a breakout campaign (and entering a contract year) or Kessel for a third straight season.

Tim Connolly is an improvement over Tyler Bozak but my feeling is that he’s a placeholder for an eventual upgrade at some point in the future. Joffrey Lupul will also bear some of the scoring load providing balance to that line, but maybe not the explosive scoring potential.

The Clarke MacArthur, Grabovski, Kulemin line, which was the de facto first line at points in time during 2010-11, offer a challenge to the Kessel line and keep scoring race tight in Toronto. Any big game can alter the standingas as they stand below.

Player	Pos	Age		GP	G	A	Pts	GPG	PPG
Nikolai Kulemin	LW	25		81	29	37	66	0.358	0.815
Phil Kessel	RW	23		80	35	30	65	0.438	0.813
Mikhail Grabovski	C	27		80	25	39	64	0.313	0.800
Clarke MacArthur	LW/RW	26		81	21	36	57	0.259	0.704
Tim Connolly	C	30		73	15	40	55	0.205	0.753
Joffrey Lupul	LW	27		78	26	26	52	0.333	0.667
John-Michael Liles	D	30		76	9	36	45	0.118	0.592
Dion Phaneuf	D	26		77	10	34	44	0.130	0.571
Colby Armstrong	RW	28		75	15	19	34	0.200	0.453
Nazem Kadri	LW/C	20		71	12	16	28	0.169	0.394
Cody Franson	D	23		78	6	22	28	0.077	0.359
Tyler Bozak	C	25		81	10	14	24	0.123	0.296
Luke Schenn	D	21		79	5	13	18	0.063	0.228
Carl Gunnarsson	D	24		75	4	13	17	0.053	0.227
Philippe Dupuis	C	26		79	3	9	12	0.038	0.152
Keith Aulie	D	22		78	2	7	9	0.026	0.115
Mike Brown	RW	26		70	3	5	8	0.043	0.114
Colton Orr	RW	29		72	2	3	5	0.028	0.069
Matt Frattin	RW	23		29	2	3	5	0.069	0.172
Mike Komisarek	D	29		29	0	4	4	0.000	0.138
Joe Colborne	C	21		12	1	2	3	0.083	0.250
Jay Rosehill	LW	26		17	0	1	1	0.000	0.059

Notes: Average age is 25.3 years old according to the players listed .. only two players are listed over 30 years of age (Connolly and Liles) with Komisarek knocking on the door at 29 .. total goals are a tad high at 235, but injuries – and a few shutouts will alter that.

Matthew Lombardi is not mentioned in the rankings because of the uncertainty surrounding his recovery from post-concussion symptoms. Should he make a full recovery and start the season with the Leafs, he’s a 15 goals, 20 assist player slotted in a third line role that challenges Tyler Bozak.

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Tags: Connolly, kessel, kulemin, Liles, maple leafs, phaneuf, predictions, schenn Print article