The Toronto Maple Leafs are once again in a spot of pure desperation when it comes to their playoff chances. The Leafs enter a critical back-to-back road weekend against the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars with 35 points; five points behind the surging Florida Panthers and struggling Montreal Canadiens in the Atlantic Division, with one or two games in hand, but mathematics and games in hand are meaningless if the club does not begin to play more inspired hockey.
GM Brad Treliving did not pull the trigger on a deal before Friday’s holiday trade freeze, while two Eastern Conference clubs added veteran forwards. The Habs swapped a second-round pick to Los Angeles for Phillip Danault to likely fill the second-line center hole they have been long seeking to fill, and the Columbus Blue Jackets – one of two teams in the East lower in the standings than Toronto – added former Leaf Mason Marchment for a second and fourth round pick.
The Leafs could have used a pot stirrer like Marchment and reportedly tried to acquire him when Dallas was shopping him before being traded to Seattle, but Treliving does not have the draft capital to make such deals. As has been indicated over the last month, Toronto is in a difficult spot of having to make player-for-player trades from an underachieving roster, without many internal options from the American Hockey League Marlies.
Head coach Craig Berube, in the aftermath of their 4-0 loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday and a weak performance against Chicago on Tuesday, will sit forward Max Domi and is expected to insert Matias Maccelli in the lineup. Maccelli has not played since November 28th and has not been a good fit for Berube’s style of play, but Domi’s performance has bordered on the incompetent this season.
The well-travelled forward has talent, there is no disputing that, and was ill-served by Berube by being moved to center to start the season when Scott Laughton was injured, but the 30-year-old has been a liability on the ice, no matter what line and no matter what position for the bulk of the season and is one of the worst plus/minus players in the league. Unfortunately, it is not as if Domi does not have company in the underachieving column so far, and based on the veteran bench boss’s demeanor the last few weeks, it is becoming apparent that Berube the players are tuning his message out.
Joseph Woll will make the start against the Predators, who, with their 13-16-4 record, are at the bottom of the Western Conference, with Dennis Hildeby undoubtedly going against the Stars on Sunday night.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (15-13-5 – 35 POINTS)
at
NASHVILLE PREDATORS (13-16-4 – 30 POINTS)
DECEMBER 20, 2025 ▪ 7:00 PM EST ▪ BRIDGESTONE ARENA (NASHVILLE, TN)
TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: TSN 1050
MAPLE LEAFS HISTORY vs. NASHVILLE PREDATORS
| All-Time Record: | 18-14-1-2 (35 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 7-6-0-2 (15 Games) |
| 2024-25: | 1-1-0 |
| Last Five: | 3-1-1 |
| Last 10: | 7-2-1 |
| First Matchup Between Clubs: | October 19, 1998 (Toronto 2 vs. Nashville 2) |
| All-Time Record: | 18-14-1-2 (35 Games) |
| All-Time Home Record: | 11-8-1-0 (20 Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 7-6-0-2 (15 Games) |
| Last Road Win vs. Opponent: | March 26, 2023 (Toronto 3 at Nashville 2) |
MAPLE LEAFS / PREDATORS – 2025-26 TEAM STATS
| TORONTO | NASHVILLE | |
| Goals For Per Game: | 3.18 (8th-T) | 2.76 (25th-T) |
| Goals Against Per Game: | 3.24 (23rd) | 3.48 (31st) |
| Power Play %: | 14.1 (31st) | 17.1 (23rd) |
| Penalty Kill %: | 83.3 (5th-T) | 81.5 (14th) |
| Shots For Per Game: | 27.0 (21st) | 27.8 (19th) |
| Shots Against Per Game: | 31.2 (31st) | 28.9 (24th) |
| Faceoff %: | 56.8 (1st) | 52.9 (4th-T) |
| (NHL rank in parenthesis) | ||
