The 2014-15 season is a year most Toronto Maple Leafs fans would love to forget.
With a 21-16-3 record, the Toronto Maple Leafs decided to fire Randy Carlyle after a roller coaster start to their season.
When the Leafs fired Carlyle on January 6, 2015 the team actually sat in a playoff position, and the move was meant to shake-up the team and propel them towards the post-season.
Unfortunately for Toronto Maple Leafs fans, the team went through one of it’s worst stretches of hockey when they hired Peter Horachek as interim head coach. Horachek went a dismal 9-28-0-5 behind the bench, and was ultimately fired after the season.
Although Horachek may go down as the worst coach in Toronto Maple Leafs history, he didn’t have a ton of talent to work with. There wasn’t a player on the team that hit 30 goals that season, and Phil Kessel led the Leafs with 61 points.
Besides Morgan Rielly, the team also didn’t have any up-and-coming stars they could feel good about for years to come. As a result, although this season was depressing, it may have been the best thing that’s happened to the Leafs franchise.
Following this horrific season, the Toronto Maple Leafs were rewarded with the fourth overall draft pick and selected Mitch Marner, who is a generational player and adored by fans.
Speaking of that draft, let’s take a look at it in much more detail: