SPORTS

Almost everything about Maple Leafs has changed since 2013 playoffs

Jonas Siegel The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, April 13, 2017 11:12AM EDT

Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews (34) celebrates his goal with teammates defenceman Jake Gardiner (51) defenceman Connor Carrick (8) right wing Connor Brown (12) and centre Zach Hyman (11) during second period NHL action in Toronto on Tuesday, February 7, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

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WASHINGTON -- The Toronto Maple Leafs will play their first playoff game in almost four years Thursday night in Washington. Almost everything about the organization has changed since that momentous day at TD Garden in Boston when the Leafs unravelled in a 5-4 Game 7 overtime loss.

Connor Brown was in Dublin watching the game on a laptop in the middle of the night with his family while Toronto-area native Mitch Marner was taking it on TV from home.

Mike Babcock was probably en route to Chicago after guiding the Detroit Red Wings to a seven-game first round series win over Anaheim.

William Nylander was still in Sweden and team president Brendan Shanahan was still working for the National Hockey League.

In fact, the remnants of that squad essentially come down to five players and not much else: Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, Jake Gardiner, Leo Komarov and Tyler Bozak, who sat out Game 7 with an injury.

The team has changed its coach, general manager, president, scouting staff, media relations team and almost every aspect of the roster.

Heck, even the logo and jerseys are different now, altered to reflect the franchise's more glorious past.

The Leafs of 2013 were coached by Randy Carlyle, captained by Dion Phaneuf and led in scoring by streaky American winger Phil Kessel. Their general manager was Dave Nonis. They were a wearily constructed group just hoping for a little post-season luck, a long-term path to Stanley Cup contention hard to see.

The Leafs of today, meanwhile, are coached by Babcock, captain-less and led in scoring by rookie phenom Auston Matthews. The club is young, speedy, plenty skilled and under Shanahan's lead, trying to craft a path which would see contention for Cups over the long haul.

"That was a good year too and a good team and now it's different," Komarov said. "You've got younger guys who just came to the league and it's great for them, like they've got a chance to win right away. And if not, they still get a lot of experience."

The Leafs lineup for Game 1 against the Capitals is likely to look something like this:

FORWARDS

Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander

Leo Komarov -- Nazem Kadri -- Connor Brown

James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Mitch Marner

Matt Martin -- Brian Boyle -- Kasperi Kapanen

DEFENCE

Jake Gardiner -- Roman Polak

Morgan Rielly -- Matt Hunwick

Martin Marincin -- Connor Carrick

GOALIE

Frederik Andersen