Critics claim that the North Division being weak is why the Leafs are in first in the NHL

Here we are, more than a third of the way through the 2020-21 season and the Toronto Maple Leafs still sit atop the North Division with a 18-4-2 record and lead the NHL as well with 38 points, which has surprised a lot of people in the hockey community, many of whom had projected Montreal to finish at the top of the North.

While Leafs fans have finally been able to enjoy the feeling of being a top dog for the first time in ages, the detractors are out in full force, attempting to put an asterisk beside the Leafs' season, claiming that their success is only due to playing in a weaker division.

Leafs Lunch host Andi Petrillo touched on this during Wednesday's edition of the program, taking offense of the fact that if the Habs were in the position that the Leafs are now, everyone would be bowing down to Marc Bergevin and putting the team up on a pedestal.

Petrillo's claim that fans from other markets, especially rival markets, simply love to continuously put the Leafs and their fans down is not all that far off from the truth, but should we really be surprised? It's not as if the Leafs fans would be celebrating the Habs' success either.

The part of the argument that seems to be causing the most unrest is the claim that the North Division is the weakest of the four re-aligned divisions. To me, that really does not add up.

When you look around at the Central, East and West Divisions, the only one who you could really argue is undeniably stronger than the North would likely be the West, which contains the Vegas Golden Knights, St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche.

If you view Toronto, Edmonton and Winnipeg as the top three teams in the North right now, the rest of the pack, (MTL, CGY, VAN) can be compared to the likes of MIN, LA, ARI and SJ.

While the East Division boasts the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and New York Islanders, the fact that the division also contains three teams who are rebuilding (BUF, NJ, NYR) and one middling team with an aging core who are beginning a decline (PIT).

The Central Division, at least in my opinion, is probably the weakest division. Sure they have Tampa and Carolina, and also Florida and Chicago are playing way above expectation this season, but NSH, CBJ, DET and DAL have all been abysmal this season, which you could just as easily attribute Tampa's success to if you're doing the same with Toronto.

All in all, the divisions are fairly well balanced, with the odd variant here and there, and I do not buy for a second that the North Division is solely responsible for the Leafs' success.

Would they still be leading the NHL if they were still in the Atlantic with Tampa and Boston? Who knows? The Leafs have gotten some fantastic goaltending this season, especially from their #2 and #3 goalies. Pair that with the fact that the defense looks much improved with the additions of T.J. Brodie and Zach Bogosian, and the depth up top has been tested early due to injuries, and has performed amicably.

Simply put, the critics all wanted to see a consistently good Leafs team in all 3 zones, but now that they're seeing it, they're looking for excuses as to why it doesn't count and that, to me, just is not going to fly here.

You have to give credit where credit is due and, in my opinion, the Leafs are earning every bit of their position in the standings this season and, until proven otherwise, they should be talked about with the same level of respect that the top teams are.

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