Even though some of it came down to decisions they had no control over, the Toronto Maple Leafs finally made some big changes this offseason. After yet another disappointing playoff exit, the Maple Leafs chose to move on from president Brendan Shanahan, a decision which was well received by the fan base. The other big move, one in which they didn’t have as much say over, was their decision to trade pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Related: Reaves Needs to Stop Talking and Move on From the Maple Leafs
As Maple Leafs fans are well aware, this team has been a very good one for several years, at least in the regular season. Playoffs have been an entirely different story, and nobody seems to have any surefire answers as to what’s gone wrong. While it remains to be seen whether their playoff fortunes will change this coming season, however, there is reason to believe they will be an even better regular season team in 2025-26 than they were in 2024-25. Here are the six main factors behind that theory.
Matthews Back to His Regular Self
For many NHLers, a 33-goal, 78-point season is more than they could ever dream of. For Auston Matthews, however, it’s viewed as a major disappointment. To the 27-year-old’s credit, he suited up for only 67 games, but it was still a tough season for a player who had just scored 69 goals the season prior.
What was clear last season was that Matthews was injured. It seemed to be something that lingered throughout the entire 2024-25 campaign, and made him far less dangerous offensively than we’ve become accustomed to. Now, with an entire offseason to rehab, fans should expect him to get back to being the elite force he’s capable of being.
Healthy Goaltending
There were no issues with the Maple Leafs’ goaltending last season. In fact, they had one of the better duos in the entire NHL. The issue, however, was that Anthony Stolarz, who they signed to a two-year deal to be their starter, was limited to just 34 games due to injury.
When Stolarz was healthy, he was better than even his biggest supporters could have imagined, posting a 2.14 goals-against average (GAA) along with a .926 save percentage (SV%). Had he been healthy, he would have certainly been in the running for the Vezina Trophy. Assuming he can be healthier in 2025-26, fans should expect even better…
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