The Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2024–2025 season ended in the same way it has for the last 58 years: a sea of royal blue jerseys and disappointed faces flooding out of Scotiabank Arena. The Leafs had yet again blown Game 7 of the divisional series to the defending champion Florida Panthers. 

Despite constant adversity and failure, the team and fans alike are hopeful that 2025–2026 could be the season the Leafs finally end the longest championship drought in NHL history. 

Mitch Marner trade

The biggest story from this past NHL off-season is the Maple Leafs losing one of their most notable star players, right wing Mitch Marner. 

Towards the end of his Leafs tenure, fans were split on whether or not they believed Marner was a valuable enough asset to the team to justify his high salary. The NHL has a tight salary cap, allowing teams to spend only $95 million per year, making Marner’s $10.9 million average annual value (AAV), combined with disappointing playoff performances, hard to justify. 

As a result, when the Leafs executed a sign-and-trade deal sending Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights, many were happy to say goodbye to a previously beloved franchise player. 

Opinions of Marner aside, the Leafs still needed to replace the 102 points he accumulated for the team last season. This cannot be done by just one player. The Maple Leafs need to pivot away from expecting the most from their top players and instead secure consistently good performances from many players across their roster. 

The Leafs signed three new forwards to fill the Marner-shaped void. However, adding up the total points of these new Leafs — Dakota Joshua, Matias Maccelli and Nicolas Roy — still isn’t enough to make up for Marner’s production on the ice. If Maccelli, in particular, can return to his 2023 form and provide 57 points for the team, it will be easy to forget Marner and focus on the future of the team. 

Other signings 

Additionally, the Leafs have locked up fan favourite forward John Tavares for another four years. Tavares stepped down as captain and passed the title on to Auston Matthews last year, believing he was ready for the role. Between this respectable decision and his 497 career goals, he has proven himself as a reliable addition in the Maple Leaf clubhouse. 

Joseph Woll, one-half of the Leafs’ goalie duo with Anthony Stolarz, departed from pre-season training camp. He was placed on injured reserve while dealing with family matters. Woll’s absence will be felt as the brunt of goaltending responsibility is placed on Stolarz, who recently signed a team-friendly extension at four years and $15 million. Stolarz plays elite defence in front of the net, boasting a .917 save percentage. Keeping Stolarz on such a low paycheque has allowed the Leafs to build a powerful team around their core without losing important defensive components. 

Beginning of the new season

In their season opener, William Nylander scored a goal and had two assists, Morgan Rielly provided an assist, and Tavares and Steven Lorentz each had two assists for the Maple Leafs, while Stolarz made 29 saves. This allowed the team to secure a win over their primary rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, with a score of 5–2. 

Craig Berube, the Leafs’ coach, believes there is a lot of good within the group, but there is still room for improvement. A few offensive mishaps, particularly a mishandled pass from Nylander to Matthews, need to be worked out before the team plays their next game. 

However, this is not a challenging feat, and it is easy to have a positive outlook on the future of the Maple Leafs. The team is not necessarily a Stanley Cup favourite this year, losing out to flashy rosters such as those of the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers. Despite this, the Leafs are a scrappy team with a lot of heart and a hunger to win. 

Maybe this is the year the Stanley Cup finally comes home to Toronto and Maple Leafs fans get the ending they’ve waited 58 years for.