#toronto-maple-leafs

#toronto-maple-leafs

After an opening-night win that papered over some early warning signs, the Leafs opened their road schedule with an uninspiring 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. The game featured a disconnected offense, extended shifts when the team was hemmed in its defensive zone, and a general lack of energy. Only a handful of players have stood out for the Maple Leafs over the first two games. Anthony Stolarz, Morgan Rielly, and excellent production from the fourth line have produced most of the highlights.

"I think it's great, I love being in a market where there's so much passion," he said. "I can't imagine wanting to be in a different place where you wouldn't want to win. I really appreciate the passion; it's ingrained in everybody's blood here. I see bumper stickers all the time. I see kids with jerseys at school and I absolutely love it. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

The Leafs' NHL rosters went 0-2-1 in preseason, while their "B" squads went 2-0-1. The Leafs aren't an incredibly old team by any means - they are the 12th oldest to start the season - but they are a veteran squad. And veterans really do not care about the preseason. In their last exhibition game as a full NHL lineup in Toronto against Montreal, all the penalties seemed to kill the game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have finalized their 2025-26 roster as the season opener against the Montreal Canadiens draws near. A few last-minute twists from untimely injuries, tight salary cap constraints, and unexpected waiver-wire pickups forced some tough decisions and reshaped the final lineup in ways few predicted, especially among the forwards. Now that the dust has settled, let's break down the biggest winners and losers from a dramatic end to the preseason that left fans buzzing and a few players blindsided.

Primeau, who was once seen as the future of Montreal's crease, has spent his entire career so far with the Canadiens but has never been in a settled position. As recent as last season, the 26-year-old netminder played the majority of his year with the AHL's Laval Rocket, where he earned a .927 save percentage and 1.96 goals against average in 26 games. He did manage to appear in 11 games for the Canadiens, but had a very bad .836 save percentage in those games.

the Toronto Maple Leafs back during the summer of 2018, he had only one thing in mind. That was to fulfill his childhood dreams to play for his hometown and lead the Maple Leafs to a Stanley Cup title. Tavares has sure done all he could during the past seven seasons with Toronto, posting three 35+ goals and four 70+ points campaigns while being part of the now-defunct "core four" along with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander to lead the offensive attack.

As the new season approaches, the road to Atlantic supremacy, and perhaps the Stanley Cup, still runs through Sunrise. The Panthers have firmly established themselves as Toronto's biggest obstacle to a deep playoff run. While the Leafs made their own offseason adjustments, most notably losing All-Star winger Mitch Marner, it's the Panthers who continue to set the pace, retooling just enough to remain dangerous without compromising the core that brought them back-to-back titles.

The whole article is worth the read but to boil it down to the simple point projection, the most likely out come after thousands of season simulations is that the Maple Leafs will finish the year with 89 points. Within the prediction, that is tied with the Florida Panthers but because of some other potential factors, the Panthers are in that final playoff spot, and the Leafs are on the other side.

More than any other veteran player on the Toronto Maple Leafs, Scott Laughton needs this preseason to go well. After being a trade deadline acquisition and then failing to meet the high-end price that the Leafs paid for him, Laughton is ready to put that behind him. And he did exactly that in the first period Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens.

Step one right now is seeing what we have in camp. I know everybody's focused on that one spot, and certainly we are, but you don't know where chemistry is going to come from. You can put it on paper, but until you get on the ice and see who fits with who, you don't know....Sometimes it needs a little bit of different ingredients - whether it's a defensive presence, someone who can forecheck, create loose pucks, create space, .

The Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Ottawa Senators for the second half of a home-and-home in the preseason Tuesday night and, well, it was an embarrassing 3-2 overtime loss to the divisional rivals. Not only did the Maple Leafs lose in their own building to a Senators team that was barely half-full of NHL talent, but they did while icing almost their entire squad.

Bobby McMann isn't just fighting for a spot in the Toronto Maple Leafs' top six -- he's looking to define his future in the NHL. Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube recently stated his firm and clear expectations for the 29-year-old left winger. He wants McMann "going to the net, being hard and physical." Berube also said McMann "can take another step in his game."

Over the full season, the Leafs finished 29th in five-on-five shot attempt share and 23rd in expected goals. They defended well - by packing the house and clearing the net - and combined with their excellent goaltending tandem, it led to a second-place ranking in five-on-five save percentage. From January onwards, when they posted the second-best points percentage in the league, the Leafs were also buoyed by the third-ranked power play.

Everyone thinks that I'm this nice, happy guy... but I also have a dark side,