What will make the Maple Leafs a championship-calibre team? Stanley Cup winner Alex Ovechkin may know the answers.

"It helps a lot when a core group of guys stay together – coaching staff, players," he explained to reporters on Tuesday ahead of the Washington Capitals' game against Toronto at Scotiabank Arena. "It took us four years with Barry (Trotz) to realize what you have to do.

"We make mistakes, the coaching staff makes mistakes. When we get a chance to take it to another level, we all came together and it worked."

With a core group led by players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Frederik Andersen and Morgan Rielly and head coach Mike Babcock behind the bench, the Leafs have made the postseason in each of the last three seasons, but haven’t won a single round.

 

It’s a dubious distinction Ovechkin and the Capitals can relate to. While Washington won the Stanley Cup in 2018, the team never made it past the second round in the 12 years leading up to their championship season.

Ovechkin, who won three Hart trophies and seven Rocket Richard trophies before getting to hoist the Cup, believes the Maple Leafs may have to make adjustments on the ice.

"For them, they’re still a young group of guys," he said. "Hope they're going to learn, but (again) it's up to them how they want to do it. If they want to play for themselves, or, if they want to win a Stanley Cup, they have to play differently."

The Leafs go into Tuesday night's game against the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals (8-2-3) with a two-point lead for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.