Another Maple Leafs playoff disappointment likely precedes big changes, but should it?

The case for keeping the band together might be stronger than you think

The Toronto Maple Leafs did look different at times throughout their 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs run. However, the final result was the same as the Maple Leafs got booed off the Scotiabank Arena ice following a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Florida Panthers in Game 7.

Since the upstart Maple Leafs gave the Washington Capitals a good fight in the 2017 NHL playoffs, the team has qualified for the postseason nine straight times. In that span, Toronto has lost six Game 7s, reached the second round twice and won a total of 31 games.

For context, the reigning champion Florida Panthers have won 37 games in the last three years alone.

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Chris Bengel

Due to the lack of playoff success and their contract situation, the Maple Leafs will almost certainly look very different when the puck drops on opening night in 2025-26. Mitch Marner and John Tavares, two members of the team's "Core Four," are pending free agents.

Additionally, Matthew Knies is set to become a restricted free agent, and the 22-year-old earned a sizable raise with 29 goals and 29 assists this past season.

Time to shake it up? 

The case for letting Tavares and Marner walk is easy to see. Toronto still has two more stars in their prime with Auston Matthews and William Nylander at the top of the lineup, and Knies is entering that conversation, assuming Toronto re-signs him this summer.

In theory, the Maple Leafs could use that extra money to improve the supporting cast around Matthews, Nylander and Knies. The "Core Four" plus Knies did a vast majority of the damage for Toronto in the postseason, and the team got next to nothing out of the rest of the roster.

	Core Four + Knies	Rest of team
Goals	21	15
Assists	32	31
Points	53	46

After running it back so many times and getting the exact same result, the Maple Leafs may understandably be tempted to blow up that core and make sweeping changes to the roster. Given the annual crowd shots of Maple Leaf Square and the jerseys on the ice in Toronto, the fans would likely be on board with that plan.

But what about the case for staying the course and letting this group get at least another couple bites at the apple? That option may be more appealing than it seems at first blush.

The case for running it back

For starters, the "Core Four" plus Knies are all really good players. Marner is a 100-point player who can make big impacts in all three zones when he's at his best, and the 34-year-old Tavares is coming off a 38-goal and 74-point campaign.

Players like that are hard to come by, and the Maple Leafs would have a hard time replacing those two, especially in free agency. The 2025 free agent class leaves a lot to be desired outside of Marner and Tavares.

Matt Duchene, Sam Bennett, Nikolaj Ehlers and Brock Boeser are some of the bigger names slated to hit the market this summer. They're all good-to-great players with varying postseason resumes, but they can't be counted on to replace the holes left behind by Tavares and Marner, particularly at the price tag that will likely accompany them.

That means Toronto general manager Brad Treliving would have to get creative on the trade market or in restricted free agency. Unfortunately for him, there are problems there too.

The Maple Leafs don't have a first-round pick in any of the next three drafts, and they have just two second-round picks in that span. Toronto would struggle to swing a blockbuster trade that doesn't involve a current roster player, and it probably won't have the compensation to make a big splash with an offer sheet to a restricted free agent.

Considering those restraints, it's not hard to envision the team taking a step back in 2025-26 if Marner and Tavares have played their final game in a Maple Leafs sweater.

The desire for change in Toronto is only natural -- and probably even rational. The NHL is a results-oriented business, and this core group hasn't gotten those results, especially not in the playoffs. But how green is the grass without Nos. 16 and 91 in the lineup? Probably not as green and lush as everyone assumes.

It may take Tavares coming back at a discounted price, and it may also require Marner to sign for less money than he could make on the open market, but the Maple Leafs best short-term option might be giving this group a couple more shots to get over the hump.