As 2025 comes to a close, it’s a time to look back at the Toronto Maple Leafs and how this past year fared for them. The best way to describe 2025 for the boys in blue is a roller coaster ride.
A lot has changed with this organization in the past year. From the former President of Hockey Operations, Brenden Shanahan, losing his job, to losing one of their best players, Mitch Marner, to most recently, the firing of power play and associate coach Marc Savard.
Thankfully, 2025 will soon be a distant memory for the Maple Leafs, with 2026 looking like a much-needed fresh beginning. With the Leafs eyeing a strong finish to the season before the new year, let’s analyze New Year’s resolutions for the Buds.
The stars heat up and produce
The Leafs’ recent struggles, both five-on-five and on the power play, have been heavily attributed to their top players. Auston Matthews appears to be a shell of his former self. William Nylander is slowly coming back to the player worth his $11.5M contract. John Tavares’ age is catching up to him, and Matthew Knies has looked slow in the first half of this season.
On the back-end, Morgan Rielly has not had a great season up to this point as the number one defenceman and leader of this team. The team needs a defender to lead the blueline on both sides of the ice, and Rielly has not been able to do so despite the reports of him having a great summer training camp.Â
If the team wants to be successful, the top guys have to perform consistently and prove they are not what the media critics say they are. Bryan Hayes said, “I thought this team would be good, I thought they’d make the playoffs… I was more convinced Matthews would put a stake in the ground and say, “I’m coming for everyone…” He’s been good, but he’s not been great. He’s not been anywhere close to a top 10 player in the league,” and that’s how most of us felt. As the players and coaches want, we as fans need this from our top guys to have a good 2026.
Fewer injuries to key players
The Leafs in the past two months have been hit with unfortunate injuries, with Anthony Stolarz, Brandon Carlo, and now Nylander currently out due to injury. In November, the Leafs went on a bad stretch without Matthews, Carlo, Stolarz, Chris Tanev, Nicolas Roy, and Scott Laughton. Just imagine how that could’ve changed had those guys been healthy.Â
Every team has injuries, but it is how you respond to those injuries that defines your team’s courage, grit, and heart, and this season, the Leafs haven’t shown any of that.Â
When on their game, a healthy Toronto Maple Leafs squad can compete with most, if not all, teams in the NHL on any given night. The Leafs need everyone in their lineup if they want a chance to crawl back up into a playoff spot from the Atlantic Division basement, in which they currently reside. As fans, we hope everyone on the team is fully healthy, which gives the best chance to win every game.Â
The Leafs have to make the playoffs
This start to the season is by far the worst we’ve seen since 2017, Matthews’ first season. The Leafs currently sit in the basement of the Eastern Conference, 15th overall, with a 17–15–5 record. Simply not good enough. Arch rivals in the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, and even the Buffalo Sabres, yes, the Sabres sit ahead of them in the standings.
Teams were not too long ago looking at a retool/rebuild, and have now surpassed the Leafs in all areas of the ice. The Leafs need to be better.Â
If the Leafs miss the playoffs with the high-end talent they have and a Cup window that seems to slowly be closing every year, it will be the most embarrassing moment in the organization’s history. Anything can happen in the playoffs, and the Leafs are seemingly playing worse than they actually are. If they get it, they could give other teams a lot of problems. That’s the main goal: make the playoffs.
New Year, New Team?
The Toronto Maple Leafs are certainly not in the spot they would like to be in, with this season seemingly a lost cause for some fans. Others feel there is still hope for this team to come back, and that all falls on the players.
These New Year’s resolutions are not anything unfamiliar to the team; they are well aware of the mistakes and need to kick their motors into gear, and now we’ll see if they can follow through. Will 2026 finally be the year? Or will the Leafs have fans questioning why they fell for the same old trap, year after year?
