With the first month of the NHL season officially over, the Maple Leafs sit at a .563 points percentage.
The wild-card cutoff last season in the East was .604 — while Philly and Pittsburgh made it in divisional berths with worse marks, the Leafs are in the Atlantic — and in the West, it would have placed them sixth. .563 is around the cutoff line, but it’s likely a number that would keep them on the outside looking in, especially in the Atlantic, where all eight teams sit above .500.
While a great start obviously would have been welcome, a month into the season, I didn’t expect the Leafs to come out scorching hot and build a big cushion.