The 2025–26 NHL season sure hasn’t gone the way the Toronto Maple Leafs have hoped for. Looking to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs to finally get over the hump of the second round, they are currently struggling to perhaps even make the playoffs at all this season.
It may not be the end of the world for the Leafs just yet. But if they don’t turn things around soon enough, it will certainly feel close to it. As a result, what can Toronto do to get themselves back in the right direction? Here, we will take a look at 3 drastic moves that the Maple Leafs could make to help save their season.
3 drastic moves the Maple Leafs could make to save their season
Maple Leafs should stack their top line
Over the years, many teams have gradually adopted the notion of having balanced lines in order to be successful, with the Florida Panthers being the prime example. However, it doesn’t mean having a stacked top line along with supporting lines doesn’t work either. Take for instance, the Colorado Avalanche has the dynamic trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen or the Leafs hatred rival Boston Bruins trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastranak. Both teams had tremendous success in being perennial contenders by putting together their best players on the same line.
As a result, to get this 2025-26 Leafs team going and be an offensive force each night, it is time to stack Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares all on the top line to wreak havoc on opponents from here on out. Sure, it would put some burden on Matthew Knies and the rest of the team to carry the load on the other three lines to at least match their opponents in play. But if the top dominant trio combines for three to four goals each night, they won’t need too much supplementary scoring to win as a result.
Maple Leafs should promote some Marlies to see what they can do
With some of the Maple Leafs underperforming so far this season, perhaps dipping into their Marlies pool to see if they can find some workable pieces may be the way to go. Toronto has tried it earlier by giving Marlies leading scorer Jacob Quillan a shot. But how about also the likes of Alex Nylander, William Villeneuve and Henry Thrun?
After all, Nylander is a former first-round pick that has gotten off to a solid start with the Marlies this season, with five goals and 11 points in 15 games so far this season. More intriguing would be to see how he can perform pairing him with his brother William on the same line to see if any magical chemistry can be found. In addition, with the Leafs defense kind of in shambles after major injuries to both Chris Tanev and Brandon Carlo, both Villeneuve and Thrun have been raking it offensively with the Marlies while playing solid defense at the same time. Villeneuve is one of the Leafs top prospects while Thrun has proven he could play at the NHL level with 119 games under his belt during his time with the San Jose Sharks. So what’s there to lose when the only place the Leafs can go now is upwards from the NHL basement?
Maple Leafs should trade a key player to shakeup roster
Finally, sometimes all a team needs is a sudden jolt or spark to light a fire under them to get things going. What better way to do that than to trade a key player from the roster as their huge wake-up call, while attempting to get back an important piece or two to help the team at the same time. That’s exactly what the Leafs need right about now after two months into the 2025-26 NHL season.
Of course, we aren’t talking about moving members of the “new core four” (Matthews, Nylander, Tavares and Knies), as that would signal a rebuild rather than a retool. But in terms of prominent names such as Max Domi, Nick Robertson, Bobby McMann, Brandon Carlo and even Morgan Rielly, they would definitely fit the bill as being a key player currently providing impact for the club, but not to the level expected. In fact, Domi and Carlo has already seen themselves part of the trade rumor mill recently as well.
Consequently, if Toronto dares to go that route, not only would it help give the Leafs a new look to their roster, but they can hope that some of the returning pieces can play a bigger role in resurrecting Toronto back into a playoff contender before it’s too late.