"We need it": Dubas says Leafs relishing inevitable first-round matchup against Lightning

For every question asked of the Toronto Maple Leafs, there’s only one that really matters: can they win a playoff series?

For all the regular season success the Leafs have had over the last half-decade, everyone that’s paid even the slightest amount of attention knows that the team hasn’t had a lick of playoff run in recent years, now 19 years removed from their last postseason series win in 2004.

And barring a catastrophe, Toronto is gearing up for a first-round rematch vs the Tampa Bay Lightning, where the Leafs fell in seven games last year.

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn puts a Toronto-Tampa series in the first round as a 99% possibility, with the division-leading Boston Bruins on a record-setting pace while the rest of the Atlantic Division is at minimum 12 points behind third-place Tampa.

Despite there being 20+ games left in the season, everyone — including Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas —  understands that the current divisional playoff format produces both intense first-round matchups, but comes coupled with the frustration that a great regular season might not necessarily be rewarded with a lighter opponent in the opening series.

There’s been no greater source of frustration league-wide about the current postseason format than in Toronto, who has faced off against Boston (2x), Washington, and Tampa Bay in the first round since 2017 — who coincidentally possess the three best collective records league-wide since the 2016-17 season.

In the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division, it’s another bloodbath in the 2-3 spot, where the New Jersey Devils (sitting third in the overall NHL standings) and the New York Rangers (sitting sixth overall) are slated to face off in the opening round.

“We know that these are elite, elite competitors. On both sides of this format in the [Eastern Conference], you’re going to have two teams that are in the top six [in the league standings], if it finishes this way, playing in the first round, which is great for the fans. But it’s really tough when you’re competing,” Dubas told reporters on Monday. “But I think we relish it. And I think we need it actually… I think [the Leafs] of all teams should be embracing it and being ready to go for it.”

Dubas has been busy this week gearing up for the arms race in the Eastern Conference, acquiring Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty from Chicago on Monday, some 10 days after making a move for Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari.

Toronto is next slated to play the Lightning on April 11, the Leafs’ penultimate game of the regular season, while they’ll likely play in a postseason matchup less than a week later.

But while the Leafs played a wire-to-wire series with the Lightning last year before falling 2-1 in Game 7, the expectations are higher for what seems like an inevitable rematch.

“Just being a fun matchup and being fun to watch isn’t good enough for us,” Dubas said. “It’s trying to win. So it’s looking [at] what things do we need to help our lineup, help our coaches? And then can we get them [in a trade]?”

Dubas also didn’t shy away from the possibility of the Leafs making more moves before Friday’s trade deadline at 3 pm ET.

“This is the most fun part of this [job] really. Whether you want to call it pressure or not, I don’t know but it’s a lot of fun,” Dubas said. “To me, this is the most exciting time. I wouldn’t say that it feels like pressure, you feel a duty in this job to do everything you can to help the group of people that are part of it, the staff and the players. And we’re fortunate here to have great staff, great players that deserve everything from my end to help them get over the top.”

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