Toronto native Bruce Boudreau not entirely sure Leafs will even make the playoffs this season

You don't have to look to hard to find a reputable name in hockey that will tell you openly that the Toronto Maple Leafs absolutely blew it last season, with a relatively easy path to the semi-finals and a 3-1 lead over the 16th seed Montreal Canadiens.

Of course, we all know what happened, with the Leafs choking away the series lead and losing back-to-back games in overtime in Games 5 and 6 due, in part, to horrible giveaways by Alex Galchenyuk and Travis Dermott, which allowed the Habs to force a deciding Game 7, where they made absolutely no mistake.

Former NHL head coach Bruce Boudreau is a name who a lot of Leafs fans should be familiar with, as he is a Toronto native and a guy who a lot of folks in Leafs Nation were hoping would join Sheldon Keefe's coaching staff to take over the power play this season.

Boudreau appeared on the NHL Network on Tuesday to discuss many items, not the least of which is how the Leafs may fare this season after losing Zach Hyman and Frederik Andersen to free agency. Boudreau had plenty to say, but Leafs Nation is probably not going to want to hear a lot of it.

"The Leafs got a fabulous team built for regular season season success," Boudreau began. "But as we've seen with the Lightning, as we've seen with other teams, even the Canadiens, [the Leafs] weren't built for playoff success and unfortunately for them, they haven't won a playoff round in quite a few years.

"They keep thinking it's going to get better with the same group of guys, and I personally don't know if it will," Boudreau said on the program, alluding to the fact that the Leafs didn't really make any significant moves and lost Zach Hyman as well in the same summer.

Boudreau noted during his comments that the Leafs will be back in the Atlantic Division this season, where they don't stand much of a chance of sweeping any of the top teams in the regular season series, with teams like Tampa, Florida, Boston, Montreal and even some of the Metropolitan Division juggernauts like Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia (who appears to have improved this offseason) and the New York Islanders to contend with.

"I don't think anybody can sit here and say this team is a shoo-in, unless you're talking maybe Tampa," Boudreau concluded.

While the Leafs do still have a good team, you can't argue with the logic that a lot of teams in the East made significant efforts to improve their teams over the offseason and that will create a more intense battle to get into the postseason.

While my personal opinion is that Toronto will be one of the 8 teams in the Eastern Conference who does qualify for the playoffs this season, I can't say that I completely disagree with Boudreau in that the playoff race will be a lot closer than it was for the Leafs last season and it is my belief that at least 4 of those 8 spots will be contested. If the Leafs don't bring their absolute best this season, it could be another disappointing one, which would likely force some monumental changes in Toronto.

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