#toronto-maple-leafs

#toronto-maple-leafs

In the NHL, not all wins carry the same weight, and divisional games often matter most when shaping the standings. Points earned against familiar rivals don't just add up; they directly push teams up or down in the standings. That's where the Toronto Maple Leafs have fallen short so far this season.

We're really lucky at The Leafs Nation to get to discuss this team with you, through our editorials and news. It's been awesome to see Leafs Morning Take and Leafs After Dark turn into destinations where fans and analysts alike can get together to discuss what's going on with this team, and there's certainly been a lot to go over during what's been a disappointing season for the Buds.

DISCLAIMER: The 'top stories' are simply ranked based on how much traffic they garnered for our site over the past calendar year. This is not an opinionated Top 10. The topic that made up the majority of our content between the end of the 2024-25 playoffs and the start of free agency was the Mitch Marner saga and everything that went into it. Whether Marner should stay, whether he wanted to, whether the Leafs wanted to bring him back, and where it all went wrong.

"I think over the last two games, a lot of better things in our game. But in the end, you're not getting rewarded for it, and that's the frustrating part. It's tough when you're in a stretch like this to stay positive and just continue to grind it out, but that's all we can do right now. Like I said the other night, we got to pick each other up and just continue to grind through this."

The Leafs showing up to the rink and getting massacred on the shot clock has become routine for the struggling franchise, even in the games they win. On Sunday night, the Leafs controlled possession for large portions of the game and actually ended up outshooting the Stars 28-20. Unfortunately, they didn't get the timely save from their goaltender and happened to run into one who was making all of them.

I thought our process was better tonight, I thought we had the puck more,

A festivus approach is required with this organization that has enjoyed too much goodwill this season. Optimism is nice and the holidays are a time of year to be a little happier and full of joy. I'm not sure any of this applies to the 2025-26 Toronto Maple Leafs who have now enjoyed over 30 games of leeway in figuring it out and getting on track.

Thursday night's display in Washington was downright despicable. When your coach has no words to defend your effort, you know you had yourself a night. But sadly, the lack of effort and care has been a theme for most of the season thus far. This team is absolutely cooked. Obviously, we kicked off the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take by giving our initial comments on whatever that game was. We were harsh, we were critical. At the end of the day, it's getting to a point where the players may be forcing Brad Treliving's hand. This isn't on the coach, but ultimately, it's easiest scapegoat to pull.

This Toronto Maple Leafs team seems incapable of capitalizing on momentum of any kind, and it's getting more painful to watch by the day. On Thursday night, they were shut out 4-0 by the Washington Capitals and limited to only 22 shots, going 0-for-5 on the power play with Auston Matthews and William Nylander kept from the scoresheet and from making any sort of impact.