Since the beginning of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Florida Panthers have been the cream of the crop in the NHL. They made the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, won it all in 2024, and are now one win away from their third finals appearance in a row.
The 2025 Toronto Maple Leafs were a goal away from sinking this team in round two, and would've set themselves up nicely with a favourable matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.
However, they did not, and now the Panthers find themselves up 3-1 in their series against the Hurricanes, and would've been in the Finals yet again if not for a strong effort from Carolina on Monday night.
A chain of events over just a number of days has led to the Toronto Maple Leafs taking an early trip to the golf courses with an uncertain future, still thinking about "what could've been."
The date is May 9, 2025, only a few weeks back. The Leafs find themselves up 2-0 in the series, as well as having multiple two-goal leads in game three. A couple of flukey bounces led to the Panthers taking a 4-3 lead, before Morgan Rielly scored on a lucky bounce of his own to tie the game early in the third.
In the subsequent overtime, Leafs arch-nemesis Brad Marchand fired home the game winner off another unlucky bounce, giving the Panthers a 5-4 win and a much needed victory.
Now up 2-1 in the series, the Leafs still have a shot to come home with a 3-1 lead. But in game four, the entire team (minus Joseph Woll) took the night off, putting out a lackadaisical effort in a 2-0 loss.
Another poor effort in game five led to a 6-1 Panthers win a 3-2 series deficit for the buds, and after a gutsy game six win, the Leafs fell flat in game seven, losing 6-1 yet again.
The Leafs were right in this series the entire way, and credit to the Panthers, they are a phenomenal team, but Toronto had this one in the bag. All it took was one lucky bounce their way in game three, or even a better effort in game four and we're in round three.
Instead of playing for a Cup in 2025, it is likely Florida who is representing the Eastern Conference.
If they win against the Panthers, the Leafs likely beat the Hurricanes in six games or less, and against Edmonton or Dallas? We'll never truly know, but either of those teams from the Western Conference would be tough outings.
Leafs fans will likely look back at this season as a "what if" type of run, as we took a very strong team to the distance. But we'll never truly know, and fans will forever be wondering what could've happened.