John Tavares didn’t get to celebrate his 500th NHL goal last week in earnest, but he delivered another stellar performance for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-3 victory over the Utah Mammoth.
Tavares scored his 501st goal in the third period, which stood as the game-winning marker. The veteran forward was honoured by the Maple Leafs prior to the game, with his wife, three children and parents in attendance. Tavares has been the Maple Leafs’ most consistent player through the opening month of the season, he’s been one of the NHL’s best players at 5-on-5, and was one of four Leafs with a goal and an assist on Wednesday night, joining Matthew Knies, William Nylander and Matias Maccelli. He dominated on a line with Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann, and it’s fair to say that the victory belonged to Tavares and Maccelli.
501 FOR JT!!!!!!!!!!!
: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/p1uokpvvb1
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 6, 2025
Maccelli exacted a measure of revenge against his former team, delivering his best performance of the season, one game after being rendered a healthy scratch. The playmaking winger was certainly motivated by Monday’s scratch, and with a chance to prove his former team wrong after a down 2024-25 campaign. Maccelli registered a third-period insurance goal, working a strong two-man game with Dakota Joshua, escaping to the slot before wiring it home.
Maccelli scores against his former team!!!!
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 6, 2025
It was another excellent night from the Maple Leafs’ headlining stars as well. Nylander tied the game for the Maple Leafs during the second period, finding a loose puck near the front of the net and burying it. Prior to Wednesday’s game, Nylander led all players in the NHL in 5-on-5 points, and he continues to be among the NHL’s best players through the opening stages of the season.
Willy ties it up!!!!
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 6, 2025
As for Auston Matthews, he’s beginning to silence many of his skeptics. Matthews’ shot chance generation has remained elite throughout the season, but his production wasn’t exactly lining up. That may be a moot point now, as Matthews ripped a shot from the top of the circle, set up by Maccelli. He showed excellent pace throughout the game, and it was a great night from the Maple Leafs’ top four players.
A blast from Papi!!!!!!
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 6, 2025
It wasn’t a flawless game to be sure, as Anthony Stolarz allowed two sub-par goals, and the power play continues to be a work in progress, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson now operating as the quarterback of the first unit. This would be nit-picking. It was a quality victory against a speedy, ascending Mammoth team, and the Maple Leafs should enter this weekend’s home games with renewed confidence, with Tavares, Matthews, Nylander, and for one night, Maccelli, leading the charge.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have reportedly placed goalie Cayden Primeau on waivers, according to TSN’s Chris Johnston.
This comes after Joseph Woll was assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on a conditioning stint, with the expectation that he will draw into Saturday’s game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. It is unclear who will replace Primeau in the interim at the time of filing, but the likely outcome is that Dennis Hildeby draws back into the fray and could get the nod for the Leafs’ game on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Woll has been practicing with the team since October 29th and was skating as Anthony Stolarz’s backup during Friday’s practice.
“It’s great to have him back. I’ve said before, we have an unbelievable relationship,” Stolarz said of Woll on Friday. “ To have him around us again and that competitive nature that he brings to our team and his high energy, it’s nice to have back in the room. As a goalie, you’re always supporting each other and whatnot. So I think to have him back is huge for not just the team, but me as well.”
Primeau was originally claimed off waivers by the Leafs on October 6th during a time when Woll was away from the team due to his personal leave of absence, and the only other option beyond Hidleby was James Reimer on a PTO. Reimer was released from his PTO not long after the waiver claim, and Primeau had spent the first bit of the season as Stolarz’s backup.
Having played in three games to this point, Primeau has posted a record of 2-1-0, an .838 SV% and a 4.30 GAA. His last start was against the Columbus Blue Jackets on October 29th, where he allowed six goals on 24 shots and looked lost in the crease.
If he ends up passing through waivers at the 2 p.m. deadline on Saturday, the Leafs can assign him directly to the Marlies without issue. If he gets claimed by another team, they could either stay vigilant on the waiver wire or turn their trust over to Dennis Hildeby.
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With all due respect to the current state of the Boston Bruins, Saturday night’s game doesn’t carry the weight of previous matchups.
Last season, the wheels completely came off and it’s clear they are a rebuilding team. Aside from not wanting to suffer the indignity of losing to the lesser Bruins and maybe some faint interest in seeing Brandon Carlo face his former club, the real game of note this weekend comes against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, who will be only the third team the Toronto Maple Leafs have faced that were in the playoffs last season.
And while Toronto’s 8-5-1 record now more adequately reflects the easy of the schedule so far, the Hurricanes will be a good litmus test for where the Leafs are actually at. The Leafs will face the Kings next week and the Canadiens two Saturdays from now for their 22nd game of the season. Essentially, the Leafs will have faced four playoff teams in the first quarter of the season. That’s probably why in the first 14 games there are some significant concerns about the team but it is no longer showing up in the standings.
Is a starter’s workload to blame for Stolarz’ slow start?
The short answer is no. By games two and three, Anthony Stolarz was already having some tough nights.
Is the starter’s workload to blame for why Stolarz hasn’t had an opportunity to get back on track as easily? That’s a question worth exploring.
Stolarz’ eight starts in October tied his busiest month as a Leaf, and in fact ties the busiest month of his career. Like last March when Stolarz played eight games, this October failed to produce a winning record or achieve a .900 save percentage.
After the past couple of seasons of Stolarz being the goals saved above expected darling of the league, his current season sees him sitting at -2.6 goals saved above expected.
He’s also reached his 11th game a full week earlier than he did last season, which isn’t a huge difference, but for a goaltender like Stolarz that is yet to meet the 50% workload of starts in a season in his career, it’s a sign that a bit more rest is required.
It will be interesting to see how Joseph Woll’s return to the Leafs is handled. As much as some rest for Stolarz seems to be in order, throwing Woll to wolves isn’t ideal either. There are durability concerns there too, but depending on how things go in the first couple of games, it won’t be surprising to see Woll take on 2/3rds of the starts for the next little while until Stolarz’s results improve.
Brandon Carlo needs some time on the third pairing
Brandon Carlo hasn’t been it for the Maple Leafs. And to be fair the Maple Leafs are asking a lot of him.
Being Morgan Rielly’s partner is basically asking Carlo to be “the guy” in the defensive zone and given that Morgan Rielly is at his best when playing on the ice with the Leafs top six forwards, generally he attracts a higher level competition as well, meaning Carlo isn’t defending against third or fourth line forwards too often.
Some players, like Luke Schenn or Ron Hainsey seemed to understand the assignment and thrived when playing with Morgan Rielly, but Carlo, like Roman Polak, is proving that it isn’t a universal quality of being a stay-at-home defender that makes things work with Rielly.
The Leafs need a bit of a shakeup and while Craig Berube might be waiting until Chris Tanev returns to give it ago, there’s a case for going early with it and testing Brandon Carlo on the third pairing alongside Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
The duo would looks a lot like a buyer’s remorse pairing but has some potential. You might not want to purposely match that duo against top six forwards but it’s not the end of the world if they are caught out against them. The duo, on paper, would thrive against bottom six forwards and that would be who’d they would primarily face.
At the same time, Philippe Myers has looked better with Morgan Rielly than Carlo did. There might be a greater emphasis of getting them off the ice before the puck returns to the Leafs end, but Myers as “the guy” in the Leafs end hasn’t been any worse than Carlo, while the Leafs have benefited from Rielly-Myers in the other two-thirds of the ice.
Putting Benoit with McCabe as makes that pairing faster than if Carlo was McCabe. It results in a lefty on the wrong side, but there should be much concern about what Benoit does with his stick.
As for the return of Tanev, whether he’s with Rielly or the far more likely scenario of him returning next to McCabe, it leaves the Ekman-Larsson and Carlo pairing intact and seemingly makes the Leafs defence seem more aligned with would work best opposition forwards.
Vitali Pinchuk is a name to know
I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on Vitali Pinchuk. What I do know is that if there is a 6’3 23 year old point per game in the KHL centre that Elliotte Friedman is reporting as being interested in playing in North America, the Leafs should be muscling their way to the front of the line to sign this guy when the KHL season wraps up.
The Leafs need to find a way bringing about a modest youth movement will still being comfortable using the draft picks primarily as trade deadline bait than actually selecting prospects. Pinchuk is a way of doing that. Knowing the amount of cap space that teams have to sign their existing free agents and to bid on the underwhelming crop of talent that does make it to NHL free agency, teams that take chances on top overseas talent will possibly be tapping into the best avenue for upgrading, and given that centre will always be a position of need, and Toronto can potentially offer a clear line of sight to playing in the NHL immediately on a playoff bound team, with Mikhail Grabovski just up the road as a potential Belorussian mentor, the Leafs should be on top of this situation and they likely are.
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After roughly one month and three games in a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform, goaltender Cayden Primeau is headed back to the Carolina Hurricanes. And, in a corresponding move, announced that Dennis Hildeby has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies.
The goaltender was put on waivers by the Hurricanes on October 6 and claimed by the Maple Leafs, who just had Joseph Woll leave the team to a personal matter at the beginning of the month. The Leafs felt that Dennis Hildeby, who served as the team’s third goalie in a similar situation last season, would benefit more from starting the season with the Marlies, and opted for somebody with more NHL experience to back up Stolarz at the beginning of the year.
Although Primeau won two of the three games he started as a Leaf, it was a rough go for the netminder from a statistical standpoint, with a save percentage of .838 and a goals-against average of 4.30. With a full crease in Carolina between Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, who is now healthy after missing part of the season due to injury, Primeau likely won’t be getting much NHL action anytime soon.
With Joseph Woll on a conditioning stint with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies and the news that goaltender Anthony Stolarz will be starting in net for Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins, Hildeby is likely in line to make his season debut against the Hurricanes on Sunday. The goaltender has a 2-2-1 record in five games with the Marlies along with a SV% of .890 and a GAA of 2.70. He started in six games with the Maple Leafs last season, playing to a record of 3-3-0 with a .878 SV% and a 3.16 GAA.
The Maple Leafs are set to wrap up a four-game homestand this weekend with tilts against the Bruins and Hurricanes before they travel to Boston to face the Bruins again on Tuesday.
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You can watch the Toronto Maple Leafs with reverent attention, and it may still not be enough to figure out how this team operates. It appeared that the Maple Leafs were turning the corner, boasting the best 5-on-5 offence in the NHL. Saturday evening presented a winnable game against a divisional rival, but the Maple Leafs fell short in a 5-3 loss to an undermanned Boston Bruins side.
Anthony Stolarz submitted his worst start as a member of the Maple Leafs and was pulled after the fourth Bruins’ goal, replaced by Dennis Hildeby. Hildeby was expected to start Sunday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. After Hildeby came off the bench, head coach Craig Berube did not confirm a starting goaltender for Sunday’s game.
“He was awesome. I put him in a shit situation, but he came in, handled it like a true pro and played well,” Stolarz said of Hildeby post-game.
If you’re looking for positives, Toronto’s dormant power play came alive, converting on 2-of-3 opportunities with goals from Nick Robertson and John Tavares. Matias Maccelli added an even-strength marker at the end of the first period. Morgan Geekie, Viktor Arvidsson, Michael Eyssimont and David Pastrnak all scored for the Bruins, while Fraser Minten exacted a measure of revenge, adding a third-period insurance goal to close out the victory. Bruins head coach Marco Sturm told reporters that he believed Minten was his best player. It certainly adds insult to injury.
Here are four takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ 5-3 loss to the Bruins:
Anthony Stolarz submits his worst start with the Maple Leafs, replaced by Dennis Hildeby
Anthony Stolarz was arguably the Maple Leafs’ most valuable player last season, and while he’s been thrust into a true starter’s role this year, the 31-year-old has quietly been in poor form. Stolarz submitted his worst start of his Maple Leafs’ tenure, allowing four goals on 19 shots. And while the Maple Leafs made it too easy for the Bruins with several turnovers in their own zone throughout the night, Stolarz should’ve stopped the latter two goals, and was correctly pulled in favour of Dennis Hildeby.
Stolarz held himself accountable after the game, but also appeared to be nonplussed by a subpar evening.
“It’s obviously not up to par,” Stolarz said post-game of his performance through the opening month of the season. “It seems like every night I’m giving up one or two that I want back. For me, it’s just the life of a goalie. You just have to put it behind you and focus on the next game, get back to practice, work on a few things and tighten it up.”
Stolarz wasn’t necessarily at fault for Morgan Geekie’s game-tying goal, and Viktor Arvidsson’s goal was the result of a dreadful turnover caused by Philippe Myers and Dakota Joshua. The latter two goals Stolarz ought to have had back, even if the Maple Leafs’ defencemen offered no resistance.
Pastrnak makes it 4-2
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 9, 2025
Stolarz rejected the notion that he’s facing fatigue this season, but it’s clear he needs some rest. Joseph Woll started for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on Saturday and is working his way back into game shape after missing a month due to a personal leave of absence. Hildeby can provide some spot relief, but Stolarz isn’t anywhere near the elite form he displayed during the 2024-25 season.
Scott Laughton leaves with upper-body injury, Bobby McMann steps up for his teammate
Scott Laughton left the game during the second period after taking a hit from Bruins defenceman Nikita Zadorov and did not return. Laughton will not play in Sunday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes as a result. It was Laughton’s second game of the season, after working his way back from a lower-body injury that kept him out of the lineup through November 5.
“I thought it was a head shot. I have to take a closer look at it,” Berube said post-game of Zadorov’s hit on Laughton.
Bobby McMann took issue with the play and fought Zadorov to a draw. McMann was commended by his teammates for entering the fight against the much taller and heavier Zadorov.
“I didn’t really see the whole thing, just caught it out of the corner of my eye,” McMann said post-game. “I didn’t really love the hit and that’s what I saw. Just caught it out of the corner, and wanted to make sure he knew that I didn’t like it.”
Nikita ZadorovScott Laughton • #NHL #HFhits#NHLBruins
#LeafsForever • 2025 NOV 08
• Zadorov
— HockeyFights.com (@hockeyfights) November 9, 2025
It’s a crushing loss, especially considering that Laughton worked tirelessly to get himself ready for the season, and excelled during the preseason. Toronto may be forced to quickly recalibrate its lineup, or call up Easton Cowan from the AHL, as Laughton provides solid defensive value and can be used in a number of roles for the team.
A dormant Leafs’ power play comes alive
Toronto converted at an 11.8 percent rate with the man advantage prior to Saturday’s games, the second-worst total in the NHL. Given the collection of high-end talent on the Leafs’ top unit, there was some consternation about the team’s lack of success, especially when considering that the team led the NHL in 5-on-5 goals ahead of Saturday’s game. And while this will ultimately be a game to forget, Toronto’s power play converted on two of its four chances, showing solid puck movement from both units.
THE LEAFS HAVE OPENED THE SCORING THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 9, 2025
Nick Robertson opened the scoring, converting an excellent Max Domi pass at the back door. You may have heard this before, but Robertson is rounding into form, with six points in his past five games, and he was tenacious throughout the contest at 5-on-5, placed on a line with McMann and John Tavares.
Tavares continued his excellent season to date, recording his eighth goal of the season. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and William Nylander moved the puck around expertly, before Tavares beat Jeremy Swayman from the high slot. During the preseason, the Maple Leafs emphasized getting a shot off early in the power play, while getting pucks directly to the net-front so the two power forwards can jam away at high-danger looks. This hasn’t always come to fruition during the regular season, but for one night, we received some proof of concept that the amendments made throughout the week are beginning to pay off.
Johnny on the spot!!!
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 9, 2025
Bruins’ Fraser Minten exacts revenge against the Maple Leafs
We’re not going to enter revisionist history by retroactively reviewing the opportunity cost to acquire Brandon Carlo. It’s a poor method of evaluation and Carlo was a quality add to a Maple Leafs team trying (and failing) to maximize their Stanley Cup chances. Fraser Minten made a strong impression with the Maple Leafs, but was sent to the Bruins at the deadline, along with a 2026 top-five protected pick. And during his return against the Maple Leafs, Minten exacted a measure of revenge, clinching the victory with a late third-period goal.
Minten scores against his former team
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 9, 2025
“It was awesome. Awesome result, good game by the boys, special night for sure,” Minten told Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas post-game.
“I really love the boys here. They’ve been really good to me. We’ve just been building recently and having great games.”
It wasn’t an outstanding performance by Minten, as the Maple Leafs controlled the shots, chances, and expected goals when he was on the ice at 5-on-5, but those are predictive stats. Minten scored when it counted and put the game out of reach for the Maple Leafs during a Saturday night marquee. It certainly counts as a revenge game, especially as the Bruins extended their early divisional gap over the Maple Leafs.
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As a blizzard continues to blow through town, a storm is brewing inside Scotiabank Arena, with the Toronto Maple Leafs set to host the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.
After a tough loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, the Leafs will look to regroup quick in facing a hot Hurricanes team. Addressing media before Sunday’s game, Jake McCabe and Nick Robertson spoke about what the Leafs are anticipating in facing off against Carolina.
“They’ve done a good job of establishing identity over there for the last several years of playing hard, fast, and direct,” McCabe said. “They play with pace, they shoot the puck a lot, and go to the net. They make it stressful at our net, so we gotta do a good job in front of our goalie tonight.”
“They’re a very fast, hard team,” Robertson added. “Back-to-back here, we got to be smart, keep it simple, and hopefully get the win tonight.”
Toronto will be without its own tough presence in Scott Laughton on Sunday. The 31-year-old left Saturday’s contest against the Bruins and did not return following a hit from defenceman Nikita Zadorov. It’s a major loss for the team on and off the ice, according to McCabe.
“He’s frankly one of the best dressing room guys I’ve played with, I think that’s kind of well established,” McCabe said. “His presence, his ability to connect with the entire room, old, young, whatever it may be. Brings the laughs out, keeps it light, but has a great edge to him and plays a hard game too. So not only in the room, but on the ice he’s a leader for us. He’ll be missed for sure.”
Sunday’s matchup will be an extra special one, as the inductees of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s class of 2025 will be in attendance ahead of their induction ceremony on Monday. McCabe and Robertson shared what it means to play in the Hockey Hall of Fame Game, both shouting out a member of this year’s Class.
“It’s a pretty cool thing that we do here,” McCabe said. “It’s my third one I’ve been a part of now tonight. Recognizing the names here, you know, Brianna Decker, fellow Wisconsin Badger. So very special night for them and I always like to be a part of it.”
“It’s awesome, obviously with Jumbo (Joe Thornton) I played with him, so I’m excited to see him up there,” Robertson said.
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Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares was candid in his assessment of where things went astray in Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. By the time the final horn sounded, the Leafs were outshot 46-20 and all the momentum of the previous week was zapped.
“ They’re a good hockey team and they put a lot of pressure on you,” Tavares said to reporters after the game. “At times we did some really good things, earned opportunities, and we’re able to give ourselves a lead. And then our game just, for whatever reason, becomes really immature and we don’t manage the game very well.”
Tavares was almost certainly referencing the third period, as the Leafs were outshot 22-2 in that frame. It was there that the Hurricanes were able to pull ahead, while giving Toronto no room to get out of its zone. Dennis Hildeby, whom Tavares said was phenomenal, was the only thing keeping his team from being completely blown out, despite allowing five goals.
Entering the weekend on a three-game win streak and playing some of their best hockey of the season thus far, it was undoubtedly frustrating for Tavares to see things spiral in the other direction so dramatically.
“We gained some traction, and then we shoot ourselves in the foot again. Just put ourselves in a tough spot,” Tavares said. “ There’s a ton of hockey left to be played, so we just gotta obviously pick ourselves back up, get ready for the next opportunity and build from there.”
Getting things back on track will start with improving their defensive structure on odd-man rushes, which has been a glaring issue all season long and was especially the case on Sunday.
“ You’re not gonna win consistently doing that,” Tavares said. “Like [Craig Berube] says, it’s it’s 50/50. It’s clearly an area we need to clean up. The plays off transition and opportunities like that really give their team life and momentum and really stress our goaltending, and then having to chase the game.”
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are facing a major crisis with their defensive structure and how they approach plays in an attempt to neutralize the opponent.
Last season saw the Leafs barely give up any quality chances, box out the opposition in tight, and thus make it easier for their netminders to track the puck and make the stop. This season is a different story so far, as they have given up the second-most goals in the NHL with 60 at the time of filing and no indication that the bleeding will stop anytime soon.
The Leafs are allowing far too many rush chances of high quality. Their net-front presence has been vastly weaker than it was the year prior, and the decision-making with the puck is resulting in them getting hemmed in for far longer than they should. It feels as though the players are gung-ho to get back on the offensive side of the puck and abandon their defensive structure. Considering that their team’s defensive play in the prior campaign was good enough to win them the Atlantic Division and reach Game 7 of the second round, the drastic drop-off in overall defensive play is very concerning.
What makes it all the more befuddling is the fact that the Leafs were going into the year with the defensive unit still intact, with the only difference being that they were a year older. A sense of continuity of any kind beyond the nucleus has been a rare sight in this era of the team, so seeing the band brought back together was viewed in a positive light during the offseason. There also weren’t that many alterations to the roster as a whole beyond Mitch Marner leaving and a few new forwards coming in.
The cast of characters on the team is mostly identical to what was used during the 2024-25 campaign, yet the results to this point are vastly different from how things went from a year prior. And the issue lies in a change in philosophy to how the Leafs are approaching the defensive side of the puck.
You may recall that there were some changes behind the bench during the offseason with Lane Lambert departing as associate coach to become head coach of the Seattle Kraken. Former Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde came in as the replacement, with ample experience working as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning during their Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021.
Parts of Leafs Nation had concerns about the hire because of how poorly the Red Wings played defensively under his watch, but it was offset by evidence of the success he had with the Lightning. It is unclear what area of focus Berube has given Lalonde on the team, but there’s a good chance it was the penalty kill and that’s an area the Leafs are respectable in so far this year.
There was also a point of reference that GM Brad Treliving made during his end-of-year media availability about how he wanted the Leafs’ blueline to perform in 2025-26.
“I like the length of our defence, I like the makeup of our defence but you still have to get up and down the ice. Part of how we play will lend itself to giving up some volume,” he said on May 29th. “We need to get more offence from our defence. Not just goals. We can get some more volume the other way. In terms of personnel, we’ll see. I like the D-core but we can’t be rigid. We fell short. We have to continue to look at ways we can get better.”
Now it is true that offensive production for the Leafs’ backend was a major area of concern last year as they were among the lowest scoring in the NHL as far as goals and points. And whatever changes they made on the offensive side have done wonders for the likes of Morgan Rielly, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jake McCabe who are all having good starts to the year scoring-wise. But the emphasis on over-correcting for the lack of blueline production has played a major factor in the team’s defensive struggles.
As mentioned earlier, the Leafs as a whole seem to be more preoccupied with generating offence instead of playing within the structure Berube had them in to plenty of success last year. It feels as if they are not getting their timing right on when to make the aggressive push and when to fall back, especially with some of their players not being fleet of foot. Instead of making the same play in regrouping back at 50/50 pucks, they are taking their chances and getting frequently burned for it off the rush.
Even if the goalie makes the save, the Leafs’ supposed offensive mindset has them making inexcusable decisions with the puck in the defensive end that result in them being hemmed in far longer than they should. Rather than recalibrate to assess their options, it feels as if they are trying to make blind and risky passes that get swallowed up by the opposition or can’t get enough mustard on the clearing attempts. And when they do get the puck out, the scoring chances are one-and-done before it goes right back the other way.
“Communication is a big piece,” Auston Matthews said after Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. “I think we tend to wanna play quick and I think there’s opportunities sometimes to get the puck in the middle of the ice some more, and that’s just communication. That’s just knowing where guys are gonna be and being more predictable on breakouts, so we can get the puck, play fast, and get on their end of the ice as quickly as possible.”
Sure, you can ask for your goaltending to make a save from time to time because they haven’t been stellar to this point either. But part of their struggles stems from the lack of support they are getting from the defence as a whole, where more higher quality chances are getting to the net and there is less protection around the crease. That’s not to say the performance of the netminders will immediately improve once the Leafs start being more supportive, but it will go a long way towards making it easier on them to track the puck.
It is clear that the new defensive structure doesn’t seem to mesh well with the personnel the Leafs have at their disposal, and it has resulted in a perfect storm of poor defensive play from the team as a whole to this point. The status quo cannot continue because it has not worked, and it could have major ramifications on the season if changes aren’t enacted.
They need to strike a balance between their lethal offence and their defensive approach in a way that works well for everyone. Instead of their blueliners trying to make aggressive pushes when they aren’t the quickest skaters, they have to exercise caution and fall back to have support for the netminder. The forwards on the defensive side need to be more helpful as well in terms of covering their man and their placement on the ice when attempting to start the breakout. And above all else, their decision-making with the puck in their own end has to be better.
The change in philosophy to the defensive system has not worked, and the Leafs need to find a way to get it back closer to what was used a year ago or else things will only get worse.
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Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews left Tuesday’s game against the Boston Bruins after taking a hit from Nikita Zadorov during the second period.
Matthews went to the locker room during a TV timeout, after getting sent into the boards. Here is the play in question:
Toronto’s captain played 10:51 and did not record a shot, prior to leaving the game.
It would be a crushing loss for the Maple Leafs if Matthews missed any time at all. Matthews missed 15 games last season due to a lingering upper-body injury, where his velocity and location were affected. During his first year as Maple Leafs’ captain, Matthews recorded 33 goals and 78 points in 67 games. Matthews has recorded nine goals and 14 points to start the 2025-26 campaign.
Matthews is two years removed from a 69-goal campaign, the best output by any player since Mario Lemieux during the 1995-96 season. He is the Maple Leafs’ franchise player and started the season as one of the NHL’s best shot creators at 5-on-5.
Prior to the start of the season, Matthews said he’s fully healthy, while being cognizant of his workload as he is expected to captain the United States men’s hockey team during the Olympics.
“I think you just have to manage it as the season goes along,” Matthews said on September 17. “I think for myself, over the last couple of years, this summer especially, I think you look internally at what’s worked for you, what hasn’t worked. I’ve always enjoyed different challenges over the summer, and change, whether it’s routine, workout stuff, on ice. I just think it’s as how the season goes along. It’s a pretty condensed season, similar to the COVID year, with the Olympics and all that. My main focus is obviously camp and when that time comes, I’ll take that on when it comes.”
The Leafs Nation will update this story as more details emerge.
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Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube surmised that his team doesn’t value the defensive side of the puck following Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Berube’s assessment rang even truer, following a 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins, where the scoreline doesn’t accurately reflect the margin between both clubs. It was an ugly loss for the Maple Leafs, who could be in deep trouble after a pair of key injuries.
Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was ruled out of Tuesday’s contest with a lower-body injury, after getting hit into the boards by Bruins defenceman Nikita Zadorov. Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz was pulled after the first period, allowing three goals on 10 shots. It was later revealed that Stolarz suffered an upper-body injury during the first period and did not return, with Dennis Hildeby serving as his replacement.
Here are four takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ 5-3 loss to the Bruins:
Auston Matthews exits game during 2nd period after hit from Bruins’ Nikita Zadorov
It was an ugly loss for the Maple Leafs, but the injuries are even more concerning. Auston Matthews left the game after taking a hit from Bruins defenceman Nikita Zadorov and did not return. Matthews was visibly upset upon going to the locker room, and after missing 15 games last season, you have to be worried about his long-term outlook.
Toronto’s captain was designated with a lower-body injury, which would mean its a new ailment, as he sustained an unspecified upper-body injury last year, which kept hm out of 15 games. After the game, none of Matthews’ teammates claimed to have seen the hit, only wishing their teammate well, ostensibly moving forward to Thursday’s game.
“I think it’s a penalty, personally, but I’m not the referee,” Berube said post-game. “I don’t like it. I don’t like the hit. He’s in a vulnerable position. So, whatever, nothing I can do about it.”
Berube said they’ll have to wait until tomorrow to determine the severity of Matthews’ injury.
“I don’t know exactly. I can’t give you a timeline or (tell you) how serious it is right now. I’m not sure when he hurt it to be honest with you.”
If Matthews misses any time at all, it would be crushing for the Maple Leafs. He’s started the season as one of the league’s best shot creators at 5-on-5 and he’s the team’s franchise player, while the Maple Leafs are already dealing with Scott Laughton and Chris Tanev out of the lineup. You have to hope it’s not a lingering issue for Matthews, who was showing signs of his usual shot velocity and location through the past few weeks.
Stolarz’s poor form is extremely worrisome after 2nd consecutive pull
Anthony Stolarz’s upper-body injury doesn’t appear to be serious, Berube confirmed post-game. That certainly warrants a sigh of relief, but we have to focus on Stolarz’s in-game performance: he was simply awful and was replaced by Dennis Hildeby for the second consecutive game.
Lindholm gets it right back
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 12, 2025
Stolarz could perhaps be absolved of fault on Pavel Zacha’s opening goal, as David Pastrnak’s centring pass hit Zacha’s skate, and deflected in. The latter two goals were inexcusable. Hampus Lindholm beat Stolarz cleanly from the point on an unassuming wrist shot, that needed to be saved, reestablishing the Bruins’ lead.
Steeves scores against his former team
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 12, 2025
Alex Steeves exacted some revenge against the Maple Leafs as well, beating Stolarz cleanly between the legs, as the puck trickled into the net.
Stolarz’s excellent form last year covered up the Maple Leafs’ middling offence at 5-on-5, but this year, he’s been one of the NHL’s worst starters to begin the season. If Joseph Woll aces his conditioning start with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on Wednesday, it may be time to call directly back up to the NHL level. Dennis Hildeby acquitted himself well again on Tuesday, but at this point, the Maple Leafs may need some real reinforcements.
Steven Lorentz is the lone bright spot for the Maple Leafs in tough loss
Steven Lorentz was the lone bright spot for the Maple Leafs, scoring his first goal of the year, while drawing a penalty during the first period. Lorentz picked off Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy, then fired the puck past an unsuspecting Jeremy Swayman to tie the game. It was also the Leafs’ first short-handed goal of the season.
Lorentz ties it up shorthanded!!!
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 12, 2025
Lorentz, Max Domi (one of the few players to stick up for Matthews by taking on the much larger Zadorov, along with Bobby McMann) and Sammy Blais outshot the Bruins 6-0, with 4:43 of icetime at 5-on-5 via Natural Stat Trick. These numbers don’t matter as much for the fourth line, but they did win their minutes clearly, and this is an encouraging sign for Lorentz, who was rendered a healthy scratch during Sunday’s game. There are no easy solutions for the Maple Leafs, and there will be some changes, but Lorentz ought to stay in the lineup, at least for Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.
Is it time for Henry Thrun to get his first look with the Maple Leafs?
Henry Thrun was acquired from the San Jose Sharks in a trade for Ryan Reaves over the summer. Thrun struggled defensively on a Sharks team that was still several years away from genuine contention, by design, but the Leafs certainly need a change on the blue line. Philippe Myers’ exit attempts haven’t worked at all this year, and he took an undisciplined penalty in the first period that was immediately punished by Pavel Zacha on the ensuing power play, setting the tone for the game.
Who should come out of the lineup? Myers and Simon Benoit are both candidates, while Brandon Carlo has struggled badly alongside Morgan Rielly to start the year. The only unimpeachable player at this point may be Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who adds an element of toughness and fearlessness that the team seems to be lacking writ large. Perhaps William Villeneuve will get into some games as well, as the Maple Leafs sport the worst defence in the league.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs’ struggles continued on Thursday night, falling 4-3 in overtime to the Los Angeles Kings. They are now on a four-game losing skid, but managed to escape the game with their first point over that stretch.
John Tavares scored two goals for the Maple Leafs, stepping up to try and bring this team back to life. Tavares gave his perspective on what he liked from the team’s efforts despite dropping another game.
“We kept battling and stuck together,” Tavares said post-game. “I think in the second and third, we’re defending too much, we’re on our heels. Saying that, I think we defended a lot better than we have been. It was a lot tighter. So at times we gotta execute a little better, but other than giving up more shots than we’d like to, I think it was harder to get to our net, harder to get cleaner looks.”
Toronto allowed 37 shots on net Thursday, only managing 15 itself. And while four goals against hardly comes across as a strong defensive effort, it’s also the fewest the team has conceded in a night through their losing skid. Of course, there’s still plenty work to do, and as a longtime member of the Leafs’ leadership team, Tavares recognizes that well.
“We know we haven’t been to the level that we expect on a consistent basis and we got to work our way through it,” he said. “Obviously, it’s been a battle for us and we gotta continue to stay with it and find our way here. Things are only getting tougher and tougher within our own division, within the league. We just got to stay at it and know we got a lot better in our game, a lot better individually. But the urgency has to be high.”
As the Leafs continue to drop games, it’s become unclear what exactly needs to be done to get back in the win column. For Tavares, it’s still just about doing the simple things right to tilt games in their favour.
“I still think we can win more pucks, we can be a little bit quicker with our pace, the way we move the puck up the ice, and how we’re on top of the opponent,” he said. “You know, at times there’s still a little bit too much separation. I still think there’s loose pucks that we can be on top of and earn.”
Toronto resumes its schedule Saturday on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks.
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Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is going through his toughest challenge since manning the bench, as the team is in the midst of a sluggish start to the season.
The Leafs have lately been struggling to generate any positive momentum for a sustainable period of time, compounded by their ongoing four-game losing streak, where they have allowed at least four goals against in each of them. Even when they were winning games, the defensive struggles have been paramount, with less than convincing performances for a team that was expected to be in the upper echelon of the league going into the season.
Berube knows that the issues lie in getting the puck cleanly out of their zone and spending too much time defending, so the solution is to keep building on the good that has come from their recent form.
“ I thought the guys worked. They had pretty good energy out there, which is good,” he said to reporters after Friday’s practice. “Things aren’t good right now. A lot of times, you can come in today with practice, everybody’s hanging their heads and kind of going through the motions. I didn’t see that today, which is good. We had energy, guys worked hard, they did what we asked them to do, and just trying to reinforce things here. Just get going in the right direction, and you never know.”
One thing that has helped is getting Joseph Woll back in the mix, who was activated earlier in the day after completing his conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies. Berube didn’t confirm if his returning netminder would be getting the nod on Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks, but did stress that having him back means a lot to the team.
“He’s the same old Joe to me in practice,” he said. “I like what I see, he’s a hard worker. He looks good. He went down and played a couple of games with the Marlies, which is good, getting game action. He seems normal to me and ready to go.”
While there are some reinforcements on the way, including the returning Easton Cowan, the Leafs are still missing numerous key members of the team right now. The most notable is captain Auston Matthews, who was placed on injured reserve retroactive to November 11 and will miss at least a week of action.
The good news is that they have the remaining star players leading the charge and carrying the load, headlined by William Nylander, who is among the league’s scoring leaders. It is through difficult times like this that Berube wants to see them, and Nylander especially, take charge.
“ I think more like he’s shown it and to me he has shown it, but I think he’s shown it in the room too,” he said. “On the ice, I just need a little bit more consistency. There’s a lot of good like he does, but then it kind of is a little bit inconsistent. So consistency, just staying with it, and working.”
Above all else, the Leafs need to find a way to work their way through this difficult stretch and not let the outside noise creep into the room. Berube knows how big the team is in the market and the fact that many more people will be talking about them, but he always tells his players to tune out the noise and focus on what they need to do to right the ship. For that to become a reality, he stressed that the team will need to stick together and fight through the adversity both as a unit and as individuals.
“Confidence is a funny thing. But if you want to get your confidence back, you go and work to get it back. That’s how you get your confidence back,” he said. “We’re in adversity right now. Well, what are we going to do? We’re going to go through that adversity, go through that wall. Find a way to get through it. Climb over the wall, whatever it is. You gotta push your way through it as a team and every individual”
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There are a lot of negative things to talk about with the Leafs right now and without a doubt, we’ll get to those soon, but before that it seems like taking a moment to appreciate the offence coming off the sticks of William Nylander, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies is warranted. And for that matter, Morgan Rielly going back to being an offensive contributor is nice even if the defensive warts are still glaring. Knies, Rielly, and Nylander were very much the players on the Leafs that were put in positions where more was going to be asked of them offensively this season and all three have met that target. Tavares scoring at a 50-goal clip is just gravy. Things might not be going great at the moment but there are some silver linings.
Here are some other stray thoughts…
If someone tells you they aren’t panicking, they are panicking
It seems like good news that the Leafs are showing some signs of panic and some acknowledgement that what they attempted to do this season isn’t going as planned. Because it isn’t working and as the 20-game mark fast approaches, there should be a sense of urgency kicking in. The question of whether or not the Leafs have the right people in place to adjust to a winning formula on the fly remains to be seen but accepting it is a mess is a good start.
The problem with things being a mess, is that it also means asking the tough question of whether this group is one or two moves away from getting back on track to challenging for the top spot in the division and competing for the Cup this season. If you think the answer is yes, spending assets to bringing in older/expensive talent might be the right course of action and the Leafs can try to get past a slow start.
If you think the Leafs problems go beyond one or two moves, this season starts mirroring what the Rangers did last season and start selling off the players that aren’t working on the Leafs, while being ruthless when it comes to those cuts.
The Rangers might not be a team that is fully back on track this season but they recognized who they wanted to keep and made some smart additions while getting a few more futures into their system as well. They took 2024-25 as a loss and are at least back in the bubble team mix on the strength of an 8-1-1 road record, and are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games after a tough start to the year.
This is a tough situation to be for MLSE CEO Keith Pelley to be in. He was pitched as ethe non-nonsense boss who wasn’t going to accept poor results and Brad Treliving has immediately tested him on that stance. Pelley attached himself to and endorsed the direction the team took with Mitch Marner but that seemed to come with the caveat that the team would still be good and it was to be a change of direction not a step back. And truly, this isn’t about Marner as this wasn’t a move that took the club by surprise and the decisions the club has made weren’t made under duress. This is about how Pelley is probably seeing a GM and Coach who have made some bad reads on what will work on the ice and a group of players who aren’t playing the most inspired hockey at the moment.
Seeing how this non-panicking panic plays out for the Leafs will be interesting and while returns of Matthews, Tanev, Woll, Stolarz, and Laughton will all bring the opportunity to assess what this team truly looks like, and how they truly play as a group, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of candidates around the organization that it might be time to move on from.
Kampf’s departure frees up a few bucks
A week ago, I wrote about how the most freeing option for David Kampf was to agree to the termination of contract and find his own way back to the NHL. It wasn’t a particularly bold take and the blustering that the option wasn’t on the table seemed like a marketing campaign to see if anything could swiftly get worked out before going with the contract termination. No one was interested in Kampf’s 2026-27 signing bonus payment so contract termination became the option.
With Kampf in the AHL, a $1,250,000 cap hit remained on the Maple Leafs. That is now gone. And the Leafs now have $1.7M of cap space to work with. That number shifts towards $2.5M once you factor in the demotion of Dennis Hildeby once Stolarz is healthy and has the potential to increase even more as Matthews, Laughton, and Tanev get healthy and further Marlie demotions occur. The Leafs also aren’t locked into the 23-player roster approach although injuries and inconsistent play have made it a nice luxury.
The point is the Leafs are potentially in a situation where they can consider spending their way out of trouble, it’s just that it might not be the best idea. A few years back Kyle Dubas made a statement about not wanting to spend assets on a team that wasn’t delivering and the Leafs might be in that situation again. And while I’m not suggesting the Leafs go into another situation where their trade deadline splashes are reacquiring Calle Rosen or picking up Denis Malgin, it might not be a year to add.
The bigger win for the Leafs might come in 2026-27, where the $1.175M of cap space gained by this move can be put to more practical and planned for use. As things sit today, the Leafs have over $19M in cap space for 2026-27.
What do you want them to accomplish?
The Leafs lineup card feels like jazz, whatever note you are expecting to be hit, something very different happens. When jazz is done right it is art at its finest. When jazz is done wrong, you get Max Domi playing centre.
I’ve never been a fan of jazz. I’m a formulaic pop guy. I want something catchy and easy to recognize and with that I want the Maple Leafs lines to have a purpose and to put pieces that seem like they would work well together on the same line.
Right now, with Auston Matthews out, it’s difficult to put together the definitive Maple Leafs lines. Even the absence of Scott Laughton hurts that, but maybe it’s as simple as asking what the Leafs want each line to do and sending them out to do it.
Let’s start at the bottom.
I want the Maple Leafs to hit someone.
Good news, Steven Lorentz, Dakota Joshua, and Sammy Blais are capable of doing that. There’s a perfectly acceptable fourth line.
I want the Maple Leafs to play sound two-way hockey
As best I can tell that would involve Nicolas Roy, Calle Jarnkrok, and Easton Cowan. All three players can be trusted at either end of the ice and if they are lining up against bottom six opposition they might even score.
I want scoring chances
This feels like the grey are on the Maple Leafs at the moment as Auston Matthews’ absence cuts into the Leafs ability have a deep top six. I’d say the combination of Nick Robertson, Matias Maccelli, and Bobby McMann fit in here while Toronto reluctantly puts Max Domi at centre due to Matthews and Laughton not being available.
I want the Maple Leafs to dominate
At this point, just put Matthew Knies, William Nylander, and John Tavares together. They are what is working for the team and the Maple Leafs need something to go right.
None of these lines might be perfect but at least they would all be clear on what they are supposed to do. With the amount of shuffling of players around the Leafs lineup card in the past few weeks I’m sure roles and expectations have shifted a lot and some confusion/chemistry issues are preventing players from doing what they do best. Simplifying things, especially in Matthews’ absence at least makes sense to me.
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