A couple games into the 2025-26 NHL season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have seen the good, the bad and the ugly with their current roster. The result being the Leafs have one win and one loss to show for it. There haven’t been a shortage of goals with eight in two games. But they have also given up eight as well.
Nevertheless, with last year’s team being one of the best that the Maple Leafs had fielded in years, this year’s team will likely feel some void after missing a few key players from their 2024-25 NHL campaign. That void could potentially affect the overall outcome of the team’s success this season. As a result, we will take a look at 3 players that Toronto will likely miss from last season.
Joseph Woll
Last year, Joseph Woll formed an elite netminder tandem with Anthony Stolarz to help the Leafs rank among the top of the league in goaltending. By splitting the starts almost evenly, it kept both Woll and Stolarz fresh to perform effectively throughout the season. In total, the young 27-year-old goalie posted a solid 27-14-1 record with a 2.73 GAA and .909 save percentage and performed admirably when he had to step in for an injured Stolarz during the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
However, things haven’t gone the Leafs way to start their 2025-26 NHL campaign as Woll has stepped away from the game indefinitely to deal with a personal family matter. No matter what the situation is, it is expected that he will be missing a significant amount of time nonetheless, as he will need some time to ramp up his activities and conditioning even eventually when he makes it back. As a result, to force Stolarz with a prior injury history to shoulder the load for the Maple Leafs while having just an adequate yet inconsistent waiver pickup in Cayden Primeau as the backup could spell trouble the deeper into the season it gets without Woll.
Max Pacioretty
Despite being somewhat of a disappointment during the 2024-25 NHL regular season, Max Pacioretty came up big for the Maple Leafs during the playoffs in helping the team reach the second round. With three goals and five assists in 11 playoff games, Pacioretty provided that much-needed secondary scoring to go along with his hard-nosed, gritty play to aid the Leafs in their success.
However, the playoff excitement wasn’t enough for the Leafs to retain his services for the 2025-26 NHL season as Pacioretty decided to hang up the skates to take upon a special assistant role with the University of Michigan men’s hockey program and be able to spend more time with his family. The Leafs might not feel the effects of no longer having his presence during the regular season. But during the rigours of the playoffs where Pacioretty often elevates his game like last season, his veteran leadership and aggressive style of play will likely be sorely missed by Toronto when the going gets tough.
Mitch Marner
Finally, we have of course the biggest loss of the Leafs this past offseason in Mitch Marner. Marner had been front-and-center one of the main leaders on the team both offensively and defensively for almost the past decade for Toronto. The 28-year-old forward played mainly on the top line for the bulk of his tenure with the Maple Leafs, along with being on the top power play and penalty kill units while playing a full 200-feet game. With a player that was impactful in multiple aspects of the game, it was a difficult task for Toronto to find an adequate replacement or two to make up for what he did. Not to mentioned Marner posted his best season with the Leafs last year, cracking the 100-point milestone with 27 goals, 75 assists for 102 points in 81 games played.
Toronto may already be feeling the effects without Marner as they have yet to score a power play goal this season while giving up one already. In addition, their top line hasn’t been as explosive and scary to date, with Auston Matthews recording only one goal and Matthew Knies having only one assist to show for. As a result, of all the players from last season, without question the Leafs and their fans will end up missing Marner the most.