We all know the point of the regular season is to position oneself for the playoffs. It decides the matchups, and tells teams whether they are good or bad and by how much.
33 games into the season for the Leafs, we can tell the Leafs are very good. Especially defensively where they are top-10 in shots against and expected goals against, and second in goals against behind only the Bruins. Offensively they have been much more pedestrian (around the upper-middle of the league in shots and goals), but they are improving.
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William Nylander leads the Leafs in goals with 19 in 33 games, with Matthews caught up with 18, both are at a 45+ goal pace.