The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping that the disaster that was the 2025-26 season ran its course with the dismissal of GM Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube. Since the end of the campaign, the club won top pick in the NHL Draft next Friday in Buffalo, and their AHL affiliate has gone on an unexpected run in the Calder Cup Playoffs. GM John Chayka completed a busy week on Friday with a sign-and-trade with Tampa Bay for defenseman Darren Raddysh, and last night, the Marlies completed their magical run to their second AHL title in eight years with a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Wolves in Game 5 of the Calder Cup Final at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
As with most of their playoff run, the Marlies made it difficult for themselves, but showed the resiliency necessary for a championship club. Chicago fed off the momentum of their overtime win on Thursday, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Landon Sim’s goal late in the period provided a springboard for Toronto going into the second.
The Marlies took the lead for good in the middle frame on goals from Benoit-Olivier Groulx, Jacob Quillan, and Vinni Letteri, with Easton Cowan assisting on each tally. The Wolves narrowed the Toronto lead to one with a goal with six seconds left in the second, but Artur Akhtyamov and his teammates slammed the door in the third.
Akhtyamov, who made 27 saves for his 15th victory of the postseason, was named the Jack Butterfield Trophy winner (the AHL equivalent of the Conn Smythe Trophy), after going 15-7, with a 2.22 GAA, and .923 save %, and both Sim and Cowan, fresh off winning a Memorial Cup with London last spring, added a Calder Cup Championship in consecutive seasons.
What Marlies Win Could Mean For Leafs Future
The Leafs organization will benefit from a youngster like Cowan, who was healthy scratched by Berube in the middle of the season and rebounded with more playing time post-Olympics, getting postseason experience and succeeding with the Marlies, scoring 18 points (8 goals, 10 assists) in 22 games, but the positives for the NHL club could come from some of the other youngsters who stepped up and thrived in the crucible of playoff pressure.
Akhtyamov has inserted himself in the Leafs goaltending picture next season, with Joseph Woll being dealt to Philadelphia, Anthony Stolarz possibly a trade candidate, and Dennis Hildeby in the mix. William Villeneuve, Quillan (who both need qualifying offers by the end of June) and Luke Haymes were given scant opportunities by Berube after Toronto was eliminated from playoff competition in March, opting to give big minutes to a more-established AHLer in Groulx.
There has to be more of an avenue for players inside the organization to get NHL opportunities when they have shown some ability and have assets that players on the Leafs are lacking. Even a player like Sim, who split time between the ECHL and AHL, but played 12 games in the playoffs and was a constant annoyance on the fourth line, could eventually make the Leafs as a fourth liner.
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