The Toronto Maple Leafs season starts in just over a month.

With the brand new season just weeks away, the excitement of hockey’s return grows each passing day. For Toronto Maple Leafs fans, there is plenty to be excited about.

For one, they made the biggest splash in free-agency by convincing John Tavares to join his hometown team. Auston Matthews has quickly become one of the top players in the league at just 20-years-old. Frederik Andersen has been all the Leafs could hope for as their starting goalie while facing a heavy workload.

It’s easy to predict these three players will all play critical roles if the team will have success for the coming year. Much harder to forecast is which of these three players will become the Toronto Maple Leafs MVP for the 2018-19 season. So let’s take a look.

Frederik Andersen

Since coming to the Leafs in the summer of 2016, Andersen has been the unquestioned starting goalie and the work he’s done backs this up.

This past season saw him record a .918 SV%, 2.81 GAA, 5 SO, and a franchise-best 38 wins. He did this while having a heavy workload, leading the league in both shots-against (2211) and saves (2029).

Andersen masked the much-maligned Leafs’ defence. If it wasn’t for his heroics, the Leafs would not have had a record-breaking season last year.

Pete Blackburn of CBS Sports wrote that despite the presence of both Matthews and Tavares, Andersen will be critical to the team’s success. He also mentioned Andersen should be in consideration for the Hart Memorial Trophy if the Leafs have a great campaign.

Given that the Leafs have yet to address their back-end nor identified their backup goaltender, it seems Andersen is destined to face a huge workload once again. If he performs well despite the pressure, then he should definitely be considered the Leafs’ MVP.

Auston Matthews

The former-#1 overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft has been a revelation for the Toronto Maple Leafs and is quickly proving to the hockey world he’s one of the best in the game already.

Despite getting limited appearances last year due to injury, he registered 34 goals, 29 assists, and 63 points in just 62 games played. This results in a total of 1.02 PPG (24th best in the league), suggesting Matthews could have had 84 points over an 82 game span (roughly 45 goals and 39 assists).

His underlying stats show he is an effective player, finishing last year with a 54.8% Corsi-for, a 59.8% SThr, and an impressive 2.3 oiGA/60. The fact he was this productive despite missing significant time is impressive.

Our very own David Scala wrote how Matthews can become a Rocket Richard Trophy candidate as early as next year. Considering he had the 7th best GPG rank in the league (0.55), it’s entirely possible he can reach these numbers barring injury.

Matthews has quickly proven to be one of the league’s top players and has all the runnings to be the Leafs’ MVP. If he’s healthy and continues to improve, good luck to the 30 other teams.

John Tavares

While he has yet to play a single game as a Leaf, Tavares’ arrival makes him one of the best players on the team and it’s easy to see why.

Last year saw him record 37 goals, 47 assists, and 84 points, which is tied for 16th highest in the NHL. Additionally, Tavares recorded an impressive 52.5 Corsi-for% and a 57.5 Thr% which shows he’s a smart player overall.

What makes him such a valuable asset is his presence makes everyone he’s played with better. Ian Tulloch of The Athletic wrote that Tavares made players like Matt Moulson and Josh Bailey dramatically improve, similar to how Sidney Crosby improved Chris Kunitz’s stock.

I previously wrote that Tavares could see an increase in offensive production this year due to having stronger linemates. Not only should he improve offensively, but players like Mitch Marner could reach new heights in their game by playing with Tavares.

If Tavares continues to be a solid all-around player while improving both his numbers as well as his teammates’, he could become the team’s MVP.

What do you think Toronto Maple Leafs fans? Which of these three players will be the team’s MVP?

Thanks for reading!

All stats unless otherwise noted are from Hockey-Reference.com.