As the 2024-2025 NHL season progresses, the Toronto Maple Leafs are positioning themselves as serious contenders for the Atlantic Division crown.
With a balanced roster filled with key players in all areas, the Toronto Maple Leafs playoff hopes look as strong as ever.
With the 4 Nations Face-Off in the rearview mirror, the NHL can get back to finishing the regular-season stretch run to decide playoff seedings and opening-round matchups.
The Leafs returned to action with a 6-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Coupled with the Florida Panthers 2-1 defeat to the Seattle Kraken, Toronto found themselves only a point out of first place in the division, while holding two games in hand, before puck drop on Sunday night in Chicago.
The team has made significant strides. Their combination of goaltending, offensive firepower, defensive depth, and ability to hold onto leads makes them one of the most formidable teams in the league. Here’s why the Maple Leafs are primed to win the Atlantic Division this season.
Why the Toronto Maple Leafs Will Win the Atlantic Division
In the playoffs, where goaltending can make or break a team’s success, the Leafs have found a solid duo in Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz. For the first time during the Core 4 era, the Maple Leafs should feel confident in the net heading into the playoffs.
Gone are the days of Jack Campbell, and Ilya Samsonov and the volatility that came with them. Yes, the Leafs have had scoring difficulties in the postseason for myriad reasons (star players not producing, lack of depth), but soft goals at inopportune times have been a huge contributor to playoff failures. The opposition, with names like Jeremy Swayman, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Andrei Vasilevskiy, held the edge in goal.
Thus far during the 2024-2025 season, the Maple Leafs duo of Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz has emerged as one of the most reliable tandems in the league, showcasing impressive consistency. The pair finds themselves among the league leaders in many important categories. Stolarz currently leads the league in save percentage.
Questions surrounded each of them entering the season, since neither had exceeded thirty games played in an NHL season. Stolarz has been fantastic, while Woll capably held down the fort during the long injury absence of his partner.
The two-week break in the schedule from the 4 Nations Face-Off benefitted both. They should now be refreshed for the high-stakes games that are about to come. The internal competition for the Leafs net has played out exactly as management had hoped. The team has two excellent options in net.