The 2025-2026 season has mercifully come to an end for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Yesterday, this dismal season ended dismally with a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. It culminated with the Senators scoring an empty net goal to secure a victory over the sad sack Leafs. How fitting!
I am a baby boomer. I was a child during the Leafs' glory years of the 1960s. I grew up cheering for the blue and white. I knew every player on the team, great players such as Dave Keon, Johnny Bower, Bob Pulford, Red Kelly etc. The 1967 Stanley Cup victory was the most memorable for me because I could stay up a bit later by then. It was sweeter than wine because the underdog Leafs were not expected to defeat the mighty Montreal Canadiens. I was a big fan of the goaltending tandem of Bower and Terry Sawchuk, and I really liked Mike Walton.
The following year, the NHL expanded from sis to 12 teams and things have never been quite the same. Bower played his final NHL game in 1969. Sawchuk went to the Los Angeles Kings in the expansion draft and Walton was traded to the Boston Bruins in 1971. Dave Keon left the Leafs in 1975 after a contract dispute with controversial owner Harold Ballard.
Maple Leaf fans endured some very bad years when Ballard owned the team, although they almost made it to the Stanley Cup final in 1993, only to be defeated by Wayne Gretzky's L,A. Kings and some bad officiating by referee Kerry Fraser. As a result, Canadian fans were deprived of a dream championship confrontation between the Leafs and the Habs. Ah, what might have been! As it turned out, the Canadiens went on win the 1993 Stanley Cup. No Canadian-based team has won Lord Stanley Jug since then.
As every Toronto fan knows, the Leafs haven't won the Stanley since their glorious 1967 victory -- 59 years and counting. 2025-26 has to be one of the most disappointing and lacklustre seasons in the history of that storied franchise. Their performance this season was, frankly speaking, absolutely embarrassing. Why were the Leafs so bad this year? Here's my take on this miserable season.
* They lack strong, consistent goaltending. They haven't had a top goaltender in years. Hot goaltending is necessary in order to win a Stanley Cup.
* They miss Mitch Marner and they never adequately replaced him. They sent him to the Las Vegas Golden Knights for Nicholas Roy, a centre who recorded 31 points (15 goals and 16 assists) during the previous season. Marner is an extremely skilled winger. Prior to his trade to Vegas, Marner had a career-best season, scoring 27 goals and 102 points.
On March 5, 2026, after only half a season with the Leafs, Roy was traded to the Colorado Avalanche. In return, the Leafs received a conditional first-round draft pick in 2027 and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2026.
* Brendan Shanahan was fired without being replaced.
* The Leafs have had too much of their payroll invested in the so-called Core Four -- Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and Marner. The team has never been balanced enough to go far in the playoffs. The defence and the goaltending has not been strong enough to go deep into the playoffs. Without Marner, they didn't go far in the regular season this year.
* Auston Matthews has not been an effective captain. He can't seem to rally the team and he seemed far more interested in winning an Olympic gold medal with Team USA than his role with the Maple Leafs. John Tavares is more mature and better suited to being captain. Matthews and William Nylander appear to have an air of entitlement about them. Nylander's middle finger salute said everything about his attitude toward the team and its fans.
Fortunately, a new general manger will soon be replacing Brad Treliving. The new GM must make some sweeping changes if the Leafs are to compete next season. Another season like this one will be unacceptable and intolerable. I wouldn't rule out trading both Matthews and Nylander, providing a good deal could be made sooner rather than later.
- Joanne
