2025 is behind us and for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the calendar flipping couldn’t have come soon enough. Players have their ups and downs throughout the season, but there were a lot of downs in the first three months.
While the team ended on a high note, winning three of their last four games and a number of players breaking out of slumps and the power play finally clicking, there are players that would definitely need a fresh start in 2026. Here are four players that could benefit from a better result in the new year.
Auston Matthews
Auston Matthews would like to forget the first three months of the season and look ahead. Saying that he hasn’t been himself with his play is an understatement.
He’s on-pace to just surpass his 33 goals from last season with 35 and his 63 points would match that in 2017-18 when he missed significant time due to injury. With a slow start production-wise and lack of finishing, many wondered if the past injuries or a new injury was impacting his play leading to a difficult talking point. His 11.7 shooting percentage is now the lowest in his career, the lack of power play production is evident as he has three goals and his wins above replacement of 0.50 isn’t helping either.
The bright spot is that Matthews is starting to heat up as his shot has been more lethal and has points in back-to-back games to end 2025, including a three-point game against the Ottawa Senators. Before that he had four goals in six games, but went another four without scoring. Matthews has been inconsistent this season and it’s evident. Whether it’s him still dealing with an injury or the absence of Mitch Marner, he wasn’t himself. If he gets off to a hot start in 2026, look out as once he gets going, there’s no stopping him.
Morgan Rielly
While Matthews is trending in the right direction, the same can’t be said about Morgan Rielly as his defensive game continues to perplex many in the media and fan base. The offense continues to not be a factor as he’s on-pace for double digit goals and 54 points.
Rielly’s defensive game continues to be a problem as his decision making and defensive zone reads continues to be a problem. In a season where defense has been a problem for the Maple Leafs, his play has been magnified as the team’s top defender has been on for 41 five-on-five goals against. While he produces offensively, there has been more defensive value from Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who has probably been their most consistent defender this season. There have been plenty examples over the course of the season of Rielly’s poor reads and plays which has costed the Maple Leafs.
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While he has picked it up when it matters most in the postseason, that’s not set in stone as the team is still outside of even a wild card spot. His defensive consistency needs to be better in 2026 if the Maple Leafs want to have any continued success.
Max Domi
Max Domi has played better as of late. He scored for the first time since October in a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins and had three assists in a 7-5 win against the Ottawa Senators. However, it’s his offensive consistency and lack of defensive awareness that has really frustrated Maple Leafs fans all season.
Domi has won the battle as the top right wing on the top line with Matthew Knies and Matthews, but in a decent sample size of 14 games, the results clearly aren’t in his favour. The line has an expected goals for percentage of 44.1% and Corsi for percentage of 43.5%. However, over the last four games with McMann on the left wing, the results have improved tremendously as the line has a xG% of 68.2% and a CF% of 59.5%, per Money Puck.
The results have been better with his line mates, but his results are still lacking as he has a goals for percentage of 33.3% at 5-on-5. On top of that, the defensive miscues and reads have been poor and his defensive efforts backchecking has been weak. When you’re on the top line you need to be consistent on both sides of the puck and he hasn’t shown that.
Despite all that, Domi seems to be finding new chemistry and he has been known to turn it on in the second half. If he can play like he has in the last two games in the second half, then this will be a big win. However, it might still be wise to find a better option in the top-six.
Brandon Carlo
Dating back to when he was acquired at the trade deadline, Brandon Carlo really hasn’t quite made an impact on the Maple Leafs compared to Scott Laughton as he has carved his role on the team. He was brought in to be a strong two-way physical force on the backend, but he hasn’t lived up to expectations as a towering presence on the backend.
It’s even led to reports of the team looking to flip him in the offseason. While he has been out after undergoing foot surgery and suffered a setback, Carlo’s numbers have been underwhelming. He has two assists in 18 games, 34 blocked shots and 12 hits, both numbers being significantly down compared to the number of blocks and hits he had when he was with the Boston Bruins. As a top pairing defender, his CF% and GF% against elite competition are 40% or lower.
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With his play not being where it needed to be before he was injured, which could attribute for the poor performance on the ice, the Maple Leafs defense has been slightly better. The addition of Troy Stecher has really given the coaching staff options and when Carlo is ready to return, why not ease his way in and start off on the bottom pairing as he really didn’t fare well on the top pairing. Maybe the surgery helped and he could get back to being a physical force. If not, there’s still the option of moving him before the trade deadline.
Statistics from Hockey Stats, Puck IQ, Natural Stat Trick.
