The Toronto Maple Leafs are entering their third season under the guidance of GM Brad Treliving, their second with coach Craig Berube at the helm and the first since 2015-16 without Mitch Marner on the team.
It will be fascinating to see what it all adds up to.
Any time you lose a player of Marnerâ€s level, youâ€re going to feel it. Since he entered the league in 2016-17, the only full-time wingers with more points than Marnerâ€s 741 are Nikita Kucherov (845), Artemi Panarin (793) and David Pastrnak (780). And, for what itâ€s worth, none of those guys have ever come close to being a Selke Trophy finalist like Marner was in 2023.
Still, those in a rush to write off this Buds squad do so at their own peril, as the bones of a quality team remain.
While Joseph Woll is currently on a leave from the club for personal reasons, he and Anthony Stolarz — if they can stay even reasonably healthy — should form a formidable goalie tandem. And two guys who joined the Leafs at the trade deadline last season — defenceman Brandon Carlo and centre Scott Laughton — will now get a full run with the team and should settle into becoming important players on this squad.
And what about this winger who played on the first line the past couple years and is still very much in the fold? Matthew Knies inked a six-year deal with Toronto in the summer and, at 22 years old, the six-foot-three, 232-pounder feels like heâ€s just fully entering beast mode.
Between Knies, William Nylander, John Tavares and Auston Matthews, the Leafs could very easily have four guys who bury 30-plus goals this season, with Matthews and Nylander extremely capable of pushing toward 50.
Even without Marner, offence shouldnâ€t be a problem. As always, though, Toronto will be trying to show it can do enough in other areas of the game to be a top-tier contender.
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Acquired for a third-round pick in the final season of his three-year contract, Matias Maccelli could get a golden opportunity to make his next NHL deal a banger.
One season removed from a 57-point showing with the Arizona Coyotes in 2023-24, Maccelli is in the mix to start on the Leafs†top line with two guys — Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies — who grew up watching the Coyotes franchise Maccelli used to represent. Whether we call them the ‘Arizona 3†or simply the ‘4M Line,†you can see the potential for fireworks.
Maccelli may not have the same skill level as the old M.M., who used to twirl on that trio, but he could still prove to be a very threatening skater playing beside more talent than he ever did in the desert or mountains.
McMann spent a chunk of last season skating with John Tavares and William Nylander on the second line and is going to get a top-six crack again this fall. The late-blooming McMann, 29, hit the 20-goal barrier for the first time in his NHL career last season and, at six-foot-two and 215 pounds, coach Craig Berube would love to see the Alberta boy provide a pugnacious element to a line with a couple of really talented players.
“Bobby could take another step in his game,†Berube said during the first full week of training camp. “Especially playing with those two guys. Getting those guys the puck more, getting to the net more, things like that. I like a big guy with those guys to forecheck, get in there and create loose pucks.â€
In a perfect world, the Leafs would have Knies making life miserable on goalies and defencemen with the first line, while McMann could do some version of the same thing on the second unit.
It was two years ago now that Cowan, after being a surprise first-rounder by the squad, burst onto the scene during training camp in 2023. Heâ€s dominated major junior hockey since then and will turn pro — whether with the Leafs or AHLâ€s Marlies — this fall.
Before Cowan was a monster point-producer with the OHLâ€s London Knights, he forged his identity as a dog-on-bone worker who would do anything to help the team. Even if you donâ€t believe heâ€ll be a high-end producer right away in the NHL — and, hey, who knows? — Cowan can be the kind of relentless player who chips in offence and smothers opponents in a middle-six role.
“Physically, he looks a lot stronger,†said Leafs winger Steven Lorentz, who lined up beside Cowan in a pre-season game. “His play with the puck and the passes he makes, the vision he has, is world-class. So, itâ€s only a matter of time. If itâ€s not right away, itâ€ll be very soon.â€
Indeed, it feels like even if Cowan doesnâ€t break camp with the club and heads to the AHL, itâ€s only a matter of time before he makes his big-league debut — and stays put for a long, long time.
1. What, exactly, will life without Mitch Marner look like?
Until the Leafs start playing games for real, itâ€s impossible to know all the ways Marnerâ€s absence will hurt the squad. The rubber will simply have to meet the ice on this one before things fully crystallize.
While weâ€ve touched on both Matias Maccelli and Bobby McMann above, itâ€s also worth noting that Max Domi will factor into the top-six-winger conversation as well. With the Leafs now quite deep at centre — Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Scott Laughton and Nicolas Roy, who came over from Vegas as part of the Marner sign-and-trade to Vegas — Domi will surely spend most of his time on the flank.
The Leafs’ only true puck-mover had a rough 2024-25, registering 41 points in 82 games for his lowest points-per-game mark (.50) since the 2016-17 campaign.
The good news, though, is that Rielly was paired with righty Brandon Carlo after the latter was acquired at the trade deadline, and the duo took. According to Moneypuck, Rielly and Carlo played roughly 220 minutes together and had an expected goals percentage of 58.5 per cent, the best number posted by any Leafs pair that skated at least 200 minutes together.
In the playoffs, Rielly and Carlo played another 172 minutes together and had a team-best expected goals percentage of 49.3 per cent.
In the past, Rielly has suffered from having to flip over and play the right side as a lefty. With Carlo now entrenched as his partner, maybe the 31-year-old can get closer to being the defenceman who collected some Norris Trophy votes three seasons ago in 2021-22.
One area where life could really improve for Rielly is on the power play. With Marnerâ€s departure, the Leafs will abandon the five-forward PP1 they used last year and install Rielly as PPQB on the blueline. If he can get off to a strong start there, maybe the points — and overall good vibes — will snowball.
3. Will this be an ‘on†year for Auston Matthews?
Matthews†goal totals have yo-yoed the past few years, going from 60 in 2022 to 40 in â€23, way up to a mind-blowing 69 in 2024 and back down to 33 in an injury-marred 2024-25 campaign.
On one hand, without Marner, you might assume Matthews will have trouble becoming a 60-goal guy again. I mean, thatâ€s a lot to ask of anyone in any circumstances.
That said, this is a three-time Rocket Richard winner who possesses one of the deadliest releases the league has ever seen. Obviously, both Matthews and the team would love to see him play 80-plus games this year. If he does, regardless of who heâ€s skating beside, a goal-scoring crown should be on the table.
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