The Toronto Maple Leafs return to action against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday provided one more exclamation point to the failure the club has displayed over the 58 games of the 2025-26 regular season. The Leafs 4-2 loss was kind of optically to the Toronto squad, as two Tampa Bay goals were erased by video review for off-sides and a shot from five feet by Jake Guentzel hit the post.
The most valuable players in the first 56 minutes of the game were video coordinators Jordan Bean and Sam Kim, as the Leafs were beaten to the puck and appeared listless coming off a two-week break. Their best players for most of the contest were the three Olympians, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Auston Matthews, and William Nylander. OEL had a number of good scoring chances early in the game, hitting the post behind Andrei Vasilevskiy and led Toronto blueliners in ice time, Matthews played nearly 23 minutes, and Nylander had a breakaway in the game, and assisted on both Toronto goals.
Anthony Stolarz was spotty in his first start coming out of the break, getting beaten badly by Gage Goncalves in the second period just 51 second after Brayden Point’s opening goal, and especially giving up Point’s second goal just 11 seconds after John Tavares got them on the board.
The Leafs are six points in back of Boston, with the Bruins having a game in hand, but both Buffalo and Washington increased the distance between them and Toronto with wins over New Jersey and Philadelphia.
The signals and chatter emanating from the Leafs and through NHL insiders is disjointed and confusing. MLSE chairman sent a letter to season ticket holders on Wednesday, blaming the club’s misfortunes on things out of their control.
“The 2025-26 season for the Maple Leafs, so far, has been a series of ups and downs, and unfortunately with a number of key injuries that have affected the team, we are not currently in the position we had anticipated, but that is professional sports,” Pelley said in the letter. “This team has made the playoffs nine seasons in a row, the longest streak in the NHL and something to be proud of, but as I have said since joining the organization, our goal is to not just make the playoffs, and we will do whatever is needed for this team to make the next step.
Being able to witness and be a part of the passion and commitment that Leafs Nation has for this team is an honour and we will not stop until we deliver a championship to our loyal Leafs fans and the City of Toronto.
We understand this team’s strengths, as well as the areas we need to address, and we know that with the support of our fans, we will achieve this ultimate goal together. While we always strive to be as open as possible, I know that you understand, in the world of professional sports, protecting competitive advantages is paramount and limits our ability to reveal team strategy until the appropriate time.”
The question coming off of that statement is whether it is the prelude to a sell off of players who can bring back draft capital and prospects the organization sorely lacks, or it is just boilerplate nonsense and a preview of just more of the same. The Leafs are not good enough to make the playoffs, and even if by some miracle they do, they are not good enough to beat the likes of Carolina or Tampa Bay in the first round. Toronto should try to salvage something out of a disastrous season, but what is not clear is whether the Leafs ownership and management are on board with a re-tool or re-set.
Toronto takes on the Florida Panthers in the second of back-to-back games on Thursday. Joseph Woll will get the start for the Leafs against the Panthers, who are a bigger longshot to make the postseason, but could pull into a tie with Toronto at 63 points.
