4 Maple Leafs Storylines: McKenna, Matthews, Bobrovsky & the Defensive Corps

It’s been an offseason of change for the Toronto Maple Leafs with newly acquired players solidifying their bottom-six and a fresh new face coming out of the 2026 NHL Draft in Gavin McKenna. Still the underachieving Maple Leafs from last season have left fans and analysts alike with more questions than answers heading into the 2026-27 season.

With the season ready to get underway, we’re going to look at a few storylines surrounding the team and whether or not we should be worried about the outcome as they get set to drop the puck.

Gavin McKenna’s Chase For the Calder Trophy

The race is on for the Calder Trophy and McKenna might not be the odds-on favourite to take home the rookie of the year honours. Philadelphia Flyers’ Porter Martone has a high ceiling for the upcoming season in terms of his productivity and will definitely give McKenna a run for his money – as will Ivar Stenberg in San Jose.

That shouldn’t break the overall excitement for what McKenna will bring to Toronto and the Maple Leafs’ lineup. Projections have him listed a potential 20-goal, 60-point player for the Maple Leafs this season and he will get every opportunity to succeed under Jim Hiller.

Given that the Maple Leafs’ last first overall pick – Auston Matthews – put up 69 points in his debut season, the expectation should be high for their most recent first overall pick. With that in mind, even without a Calder Trophy, expecting McKenna to reach that 60-point plateau shouldn’t be an overreaction heading into 2026-27.

Auston Matthews’ Return to Form

One observation from the shortened preseason is Matthews’ noticeable return to form. His skating has improved over last season – at least in the limited opportunities heading into the season and it’s a positive for him coming off a season-ending knee injury.

Over the past two seasons, Matthews has scored 60 goals in a combined 127 games. While it’s not up to his standard of production by any means, injuries and having Craig Berube at the helm certainly factored into it.

Now, with a new winger in Kirill Marchenko and seemingly back to full health, Matthews is looking to get back to his dominant scoring ways. Sure, another 69-goal season would be incredible, but at this point Leafs Nation would be happy to see him go on to score 40 to 50 goals in 2026-27.

There’s going to be a resurgence in his game, so long as he can stay healthy, this season. It’s safe to say that this one is also not an overreaction.

Sergei Bobrovsky Solidifies the Maple Leafs in Net

From a different angle, the Maple Leafs lineup got stronger simply with the move that landed them goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. A two-time Stanley Cup winner and a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, Bobrovsky brings some stability to the Maple Leafs in net.

By all accounts, he takes care of his body allowing him to play a significant portion of the season. He’s played over 50 games in the past five seasons, not including all the playoff hockey that he’s seen with the Florida Panthers.

On top of that, he’s been a vocal addition to the Maple Leafs room and when he talks, his teammates have listened so far through training camp. The veteran knows how to win and at 38 years old, he’s ready to bring postseason hockey back to Toronto as their starter and a mentor to their young goaltenders in the system as well.

Is it safe to say that he’s solidified the position for the Maple Leafs? It’s probably a good bet to take that he puts the team in a better spot goaltending-wise than they’ve been in quite some time.

Maple Leafs Weak on the Backend

There’s a belief around the team and their defensive make-up that is swirling around stating that the team still doesn’t have a strong defensive corps. The team has added Chris Tanev off of injury from last season which provides them with some strong defensive coverage – blocking shots and boxing out the opposition.

On top of that, they added another big body in Darren Raddysh who is also a powerplay specialist and Nick Blankenburg following his professional try-out in training camp with the Maple Leafs.

Add to that their depth with Troy Stetcher and the potential of Ben Danford making a case for some NHL time this season, the Maple Leafs aren’t as limited on the backend as some may have suggested this offseason. In fact, it’s safe to argue that as it stands right now, there shouldn’t be any panic surrounding the team’s defensemen. Even if injuries play a role, the team has some depth they can play with moving forward.