Bruce Boudreau doubts the Leafs will make the playoffs this year

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T. Tadi
August 17, 2021 (4:53 PM)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs blew it last season, with a relatively easy trip to the semi-finals and a 3-1 lead against the 16th seed Montreal Canadiens.

But, of course, we all know what occurred, with the Leafs losing games 5 and 6 in OT, thanks to terrible turnovers by Alex Galchenyuk and Travis Dermott, allowing the Habs to force a Game 7 where they were flawless.

Bruce Boudreau is a former NHL head coach who many Leafs supporters expected to join Sheldon Keefe's coaching staff to oversee the power play this season.

On Tuesday, Boudreau spoke on the NHL Network to address numerous topics, including the Leafs' season after losing Zach Hyman and Frederik Andersen to free agency. Boudreau had a lot to say, but Leafs Nation probably won't listen to it all.

"The Leafs got a fabulous team built for regular season season success," Boudreau began. "But as we've seen with the Lightning, as we've seen with other teams, even the Canadiens, [the Leafs] weren't built for playoff success and unfortunately for them, they haven't won a playoff round in quite a few years.

"They keep thinking it's going to get better with the same group of guys, and I personally don't know if it will," Boudreau said on the program, alluding to the fact that the Leafs didn't really make any significant moves and lost Zach Hyman as well in the same summer.

Boudreau noted during his comments that the Leafs will be back in the Atlantic Division this season, where they don't stand much of a chance of sweeping any of the top teams in the regular season series, with teams like Tampa, Florida, Boston, Montreal and even some of the Metropolitan Division juggernauts like Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia (who appears to have improved this offseason) and the New York Islanders to contend with.

"I don't think anybody can sit here and say this team is a shoo-in, unless you're talking maybe Tampa," Boudreau concluded.