This may be the year that the Toronto Maple Leafs are not looking up at any of their Atlantic Division competitors. The Maple Leafs have been a playoff participant for the last 7 seasons, and they are clearly one of the most offensively talented teams in the league.

As they prepare for the 2023-24 season, head coach Sheldon Keefe can look at his roster and come to the conclusion that he has a better team than Jim Montgomery leads in Boston and Jon Cooper coaches in Tampa Bay.

The Bruins have simply gone through too many roster changes from the team that had a record 135 points last year, including the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. The Lightning have lost much of their supporting cast in the last couple of years, and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is out for at least two months following back surgery — and that's probably an optimistic estimate.

Even the upstart Florida Panthers, who defeated the Maple Leafs in the second round of last year's playoffs, are starting the season with a slew of injuries.

This should be the Maple Leafs' regular season and it would be a disappointment if the Buds don't assert themselves.

3. Auston Matthews will exceed 60 goals

The Maple Leafs need their biggest superstar to get back to his top form. Auston Matthews was the dominant scorer in the league two years ago when he scored 60 goals and added 46 assists. He was the Hart Trophy winner as the league's MVP and the Rocket Richard Award winner as the top goal scorer.

The 2022-23 season was something of a disappointment as he surrendered the goal-scoring championship to Connor McDavid and his own goal total slipped to 40 goals. McDavid is still going to be McDavid this season, but he may not reach the 64-goal mark again this season. He should once again approach 150 points, but he may have to settle for 50-55 goals.

Matthews has quite a bit of pride, as well as a remarkable shot that has allowed him to have his way with NHL goaltenders since he entered the league in the 2016-17 season. If he can get off to a sharp start — and there's no reason why he can't — Matthews can get to the 60-goal level once again.

He is not going to walk away with the scoring title because Boston's David Pastrnak has similar ability when it comes to putting the puck in the net. Those two should go down to the wire when it comes to the league's goal-scoring title.

The presence of Matthews as a dominant goal scorer is great for the Leafs. Mitchell Marner clearly plays a huge role in the superstar's ability to put the puck in the net, and William Nylander reached the 40-goal mark last year and should continue to be a huge factor.

2. Leafs must play team defense

While the Toronto forwards are elite — Matthews, Marner, Nylander and John Tavares along with newcomer Tyler Bertuzzi — the defense is not.

The Leafs have lost defenseman Luke Schenn to the Nashville Predators and he was their best defenseman. Ryan O'Reilly, who had been acquired at last year's trade deadline, has also moved on to the Predators, and he is one of the NHL's best defensive forwards when he is on his game.

The defense crew includes T.J. Brodie, who is not a big-time offensive threat but rarely makes mistakes. Morgan Rielly is somewhat inconsistent and Jake McCabe struggled quite a bit in the playoffs last year. Mark Giordano goes into his age 40 season having lost at least a couple of steps in recent seasons. He can be beaten by the faster players in the league. John Klingberg has never been a shutdown defenseman and his value is as an offensive player.

None of this means the Leafs can't play a strong defensive game this season. However, it comes down to their forwards playing responsibly and covering 200 feet every night. This includes Matthews, who is a surprisingly good defensive player in addition to a big-time scorer.

1. Postseason pressure remains a huge factor

The Leafs should own the regular season since they have a better roster than the Bruins, Lightning or Panthers. However, the playoffs are another story.

Expectations will be huge during the postseason, and while they finally got through the first round last year, it did not change the basic problems in the second round.

Will the goaltending be good enough with Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll? It certainly wasn't last year. If Samsonov does not rise to the occasion, the postseason will once again lead to quite a bit of pain for Leafs Nation.