Muzzin won't be resigned by the deadline regardless of the Leafs position in the standing, if I'm selling Muzz at the deadline it's for a late 1st to mid 2nd minimum, or I take my chances on resigning him

You know whats crazy? If TO was in the West, they would have the 4th best record and are only 1 point behind Vancouver who is 1st in the Pacific. The west sucks and Columbus, Florida and Philly are not going to stay ahead of TO. They are all either playing way above their heads or are just being really lucky.

You are referring to the Pacific, there's a difference between the Pacific and West. Avs and Blues in the central are clearly better teams then Toronto so I don't think the central sucks.

Jamie Oleksiak & Mascherin are both mid-first round picks

Florida is playing to their potential, have a great coach and two goaltenders, Columbus is well coached and works hard; and Philadelphia made some good roster moves in the off season.
The Leafs on the other hand have "talent" which is occasionally exposed by lack of effort and failing to think a responsible game...and occasionally lazy hockey is enough to cost a playoff spot
....inconsistent/immature and they really need ma legit #2RD and legit backup goalie

Columbus is scoring more than their expected goal shares by a big margin. That isn't sustainable. Florida is scoring way more than they should and their expected goals against is one of the worst in the league. Both could easily go on a slide of losses. Philly has negative numbers in expected goals and goals against.

TO is positive in both cases and their are not allowing or scoring more than they should. So from the advanced stats point of view. TO should be better than those teams. On top of all that. They have been better under Keefe than all of this teams.

I know many want them to fail but they won't, as long as they can stay healthy.

luck is the residue of hard work - something that the Leafs need to make a constant in game (start on time, then no time off)
numbers are nice but not always the game won/lost result,
how many times in the last 3 seasons have we seen statistically inferior teams force their will on the Leafs ? ( forechecking Leafs into turnovers)
will comes from the pills (mental fortitude?) time to nut up or shut up for talented teams occupying a maybe wildcard spot