Having navigated through the busiest part of the NHL offseason, it's time for general manager Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs to look ahead.
Treliving wasted little time in getting business done to prepare the Leafs for the 2025-2026 season. He started by re-signing unrestricted free agent center John Tavares to a four-year deal. That was followed by signing stud winger and restricted free agent Matthew Knies to a six-year extension.
The Maple Leafs' GM also made trades to acquire Matias Maccelli, Henry Thrun, and Dakota Joshua. The Leafs' most notable transaction was the sign-and-trade of long-time star winger Mitch Marner with the Vegas Golden Knights.
The departure of the 100-point winger has left a sizeable hole on the Leafs' first line. Despite Treliving's stated goal of finding a top-six winger, the Maple Leafs have many reasons to be optimistic about what their roster has to offer.
A deep dive into the Toronto lineup shows they are in capable hands and should be in no rush to find a replacement for Marner, their former first-line winger and the organization's fifth all-time leading scorer.
In no particular order, here are 5 reasons why the Maple Leafs will be just fine without Marner.
Auston Matthews
Matthews is the NHL's best goal scorer. Period. No debate. The three-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner has scored more goals than any other player since he entered the league. He has the Hart, Ted Lindsay, and Calder trophies as part of his collection.
The five-time NHL All-Star has 401 career regular-season goals. He is coming off a career-low 33 goals in the 2024-2025 season, and a mysterious injury hampered him. His shooting percentage of 12.6 last year was the second-lowest of his career.
Worried that Matthews' numbers will suffer due to the loss of his long-time right winger? Don't. Remember that the Leafs captain's franchise-record of 69 goals in 2023-2024 were scored with Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi as his linemates for most of the season.
Matthews also still has up-and-coming power forward Matthew Knies on his left side. Bet on a return to form for number 34 next season.
Matthew Knies
Knies was one of only 3 NHL players to score 25+ goals and register 150+ hits during 2024-2025. The Maple Leafs' breakout winger scored 29 goals and added 29 assists in only his second NHL season.
The team's first-line left winger has also proven to thrive during the playoffs. The Leafs and Treliving smartly signed him to a deal that benefits both the team and the player.
Knies has become an adept penalty killer as well as playing on the team's first power play unit. He is growing into a leadership role, stating after Marner's exit that the Leafs will "be stronger."
Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll
The Maple Leafs can make a strong argument that they have the NHL's best goaltending tandem. That was not the case entering the 2024-2025 season.
There were plenty of questions about the team's netminding. Stolarz was a career backup, and Woll had a lengthy history of injuries. Neither had played over thirty games in a single NHL season.
In 2024-2025, they each took a turn as the team's top netminder and both established personal bests in games played. Despite an early-season injury, Stolarz played in 34 games. He led the league with a .926 save percentage and had the second-best goals-against-average at 2.14 for goalies with a minimum of 25 games played.
Woll played in 42 games, getting a career-best 27 wins with a .909 save percentage. Together, they were the first tandem in Maple Leafs history to record 20+ wins. With both set to return in 2025-2026, plus the promising Dennis Hildeby with the Toronto Marlies, the Leafs are in good shape at hockey's most important position.
Brad Treliving
The Maple Leafs' GM has slowly but surely put his stamp on the team's roster. His positive moves have far outweighed the negative during his tenure.
He signed Matthews and William Nylander, the team's best players, to extensions that will age well, especially with the NHL's salary cap expected to increase annually over the coming years. He solidified the Leafs' defense and goaltending with deals for Stolarz, Woll, Chris Tanev, Brandon Carlo, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jake McCabe.
Treliving made amends for the Ryan Reaves signing by trading him away when he was no longer useful. He tried his best to get a return on Marner at the trade deadline, only to be rebuffed by the player's no-movement clause, then managed to get something in return (Nicolas Roy) in the sign-and-trade with Vegas.
He took calculated low-risk gambles on Maccelli and Joshua with mid-round picks to help deepen the team's forward units. The Leafs should feel assured they are in good hands as Treliving seeks a top-six forward, either during the coming season via trade or next year's UFA class.
Craig Berube
Together with Treliving, the Maple Leafs' new head coach, Berube established a different mindset and culture within the club. The Leafs have become a well-rounded team under his guidance.
In 2024-2025, they won the Atlantic Division. It was their first division title since 1999-2000 (excluding the 2020-2021 all-Canadian North Division during the pandemic).
Under Berube, the Leafs were solid in almost every important category. They finished seventh in the league in goals scored per game (3.26), eighth in goals against per game (2.79), had a top-ten power play, while finishing with the league's fourth-best points percentage.
Notwithstanding the no-show performances in Game 5 and Game 7 in their second-round loss to the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, they provided the champs with their most difficult opposition. This was despite Stolarz being injured during Game 1 and missing the rest of the series.
Watching Marner and his consistent regular-season production walk out the door is not easy, and they have yet to find a replacement, but playoff success eluded the team during his nine seasons.
The time arrived for the Toronto Maple Leafs to try something new. They are well-equipped to handle Marner's absence.