#toronto-maple-leafs

#toronto-maple-leafs

With the Toronto Maple Leafs hovering close to the .500 mark so far this 2025-26 NHL season, we have often seen Leafs head coach Craig Berube tinkering with the lines to find the ideal combinations. Whether it be just making in-game changes or the actual insertion and scratches of players for the daily lineup, the Leafs appear to be still looking for the right mix this season.

During a disappointing Saturday night 5-3 loss against their divisional rivals, the Boston Bruins, a silver lining of hope emerged in the form of Leafs' backup goaltender, Dennis Hildeby. On Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, Hildeby started the game as the Leafs' backup, but after Boston exploded for two quick second-period goals to take a 4-2 lead, this 24-year-old at 4:41 of the second period was pressed into action and made a statement by stopping 19 of 20 shots in an eventual 5-3 Bruins win.

There's always noise, and the contrast between the team's first-ranked 5-on-5 offence and 31st-ranked power play is creating a distortion effect, at least as it relates to how the team is analyzed and perceived. If you succumb to the outrage industrial complex, you may have missed that the Maple Leafs registered an NHL-best 39 goals at 5-on-5. William Nylander and John Tavares are tied for 2nd with 13 points at 5-on-5.

Tippett played his junior hockey in Mississauga, and has turned himself into a consistent 20-goal scorer, who isn't afraid to use his body to make an impact on the game. He has landed 115, 148, and 125 hits the past three seasons, and could give the Maple Leafs a nice mix of speed, skill, and determination among their top six. So far this season, the former 2017 first-round pick has scored five goals in 13 games, and is on pace for his first 30-goal season.

Playing in gold medal games, Game 7s, playing in overtime in the Stanley Cup Finals. Games like that you look back at. Being a part of the biggest outdoor game in history at the Big House in Michigan. That was very cool, that setting. Just things like that you kind of look back, you scroll through some old photos and just kinda have to pinch yourself. Like, you lived that and you went through it. It's very surreal, very cool to think about,

Laughton has yet to make his season debut after suffering a foot injury when he blocked a shot in one of the team's final preseason games. The Maple Leafs acquired Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers at last season's trade deadline in exchange for a first-round pick and prospect Nikita Grebenkin, a move that was met with some criticism after Laughton struggled to find his footing with the Leafs following the trade.