The Toronto Maple Leafs are entering the 2025–26 season with a dramatically different look. Mitch Marner’s departure to Vegas has reshaped the roster, Brad Treliving has leaned into size and grit even further, and questions remain about how the team will generate offence when it matters. Fans are left weighing whether the Leafs are tougher or just thinner.
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At the same time, the Marner story refuses to fade, with his recent comments sparking more backlash than sympathy in Toronto. Meanwhile, the battle for top-six winger spots will be one of the most important storylines at training camp, with Nicholas Robertson standing out as the most intriguing candidate.
Item One: Maple Leafs Face a New Reality After Losing Marner
There’s no sugarcoating it—Marner’s departure changes everything in Toronto. The franchise’s fifth-ranked scorer in its 108-year history, Marner leaves in his prime at age 28, fresh off a career-high 102 points. While his playoff struggles, especially deep in series, have been well-documented, his role in sustaining the Maple Leafs’ nine straight playoff appearances—the NHL’s longest active streak—can’t be overstated. Getting to the postseason just got a lot tougher without him.
General manager Treliving did his best to soften the blow. Nicolas Roy arrives from Vegas to give the Maple Leafs much-needed depth down the middle, while Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua are intriguing additions. Michael Pezzetta and Henry Thrun add even more size and grit to what was already the NHL’s biggest roster. But here’s the rub: the team has plenty of toughness already, and losing an all-star winger means they’ve sacrificed firepower for muscle. The law of diminishing returns may be creeping in.
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Toronto will no doubt be a more formidable opponent when the playoffs roll around, but the path to get there looks bumpier. Without Marner’s regular-season consistency, the Maple Leafs could find themselves fighting to secure home ice in Round 1. It’s a trade-off that might ultimately define this new era in Toronto hockey.
Item Two: Marner’s Exit Turns Sour After “Safety” Comments
Marner’s departure from Toronto was tough enough, but his recent comments about fearing for his safety after the playoff loss have only made things messier. Analyst Steve Simmons blasted Marner and his agent, Darren Ferris, for what he called a staged excuse, while team security reportedly found no cause for concern. The result? Growing skepticism in Toronto and a fan base that seems to be losing what little goodwill Marner had left.
From my perspective, however, there’s a difference between the outside view and the inside experience. An outsider might look at the situation logically—security reports came up empty, so what’s the problem? But if you’re the person receiving those threats about yourself and your family, the calculation changes. Logic doesn’t erase fear. One is abstract and outside; the other is personal and lived. Whether or not Marner and his camp handled the messaging well, it’s hard to deny the subjective weight of being in his position.
For me, the bigger issue isn’t whether the threat was ultimately deemed credible—it’s that it happened at all. Making death threats is a criminal activity, and yet I’ve seen surprisingly little public condemnation of it. In Canada, the Criminal Code (Section 264.1) makes it an offence to utter, convey, or cause anyone to receive a threat of death or bodily harm. Convictions can carry severe penalties, including jail time. In retrospect, I would have liked the Maple Leafs organization to be more vocal about working with authorities to identify who made the threats.
Related: 3 Burning Questions Around Mitch Marner’s Departure
Still, when the Vegas Golden Knights return to Toronto in January, Marner should expect a frosty reception. Once a beloved hometown star, he now risks being remembered less for his 100-point seasons and more for how messy his exit became. The truth is that Marner never did it easy in Toronto.
Item Three: Does Robertson Deserve His Shot in the Maple Leafs’ Top-Six?
Two spots remain open in the Maple Leafs’ top-six: a winger alongside Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, and another beside John Tavares and William Nylander. Early projections have Max Domi, Maccelli, or Bobby McMann filling those roles, but some believe that Nicholas Robertson deserves a serious look. This is a make-or-break season for the 22-year-old, and while he hasn’t always lived up to the hype, his ceiling remains higher than any other winger competing for time.
Robertson’s NHL story has been uneven—flashes of a 30-goal scorer one night, flashes of an American Hockey League (AHL) tweener the next. Still, he’s taken steps forward, producing 29 goals and 49 points in 125 games despite limited minutes. At 5-on-5, his scoring rates have actually compared favourably to Nylander’s. The issue has been usage and trust, as he’s struggled to win over both Sheldon Keefe and now Craig Berube. But with Toronto’s postseason struggles rooted in scoring droughts, his offensive skill set is what the team lacks.
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The fit seems more obvious with Matthews and Knies than with Tavares and Nylander. Robertson’s defensive game is still a work in progress, and pairing him with two defensively sound forwards makes sense. If he keeps producing at his current rate with better linemates, he could give Toronto the scoring punch it has so often lacked when the games matter most.
What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?
The Maple Leafs enter training camp with a distinct identity, unlike that of recent years. They’re bigger, tougher, and more physical. But they are also down one consistent offensive producer. The balance between grit and skill will be the key story as the season unfolds, and whether the new mix actually makes them harder to beat in May.
The spotlight will also fall on the team’s younger talent. Can Robertson seize his chance and finally establish himself as a top-six winger? Can Knies take another step toward becoming a core forward? How about the newcomers, Joshua, Maccelli, and Roy?
The answers will go a long way in determining whether the Maple Leafs’ playoff story changes—or whether it stays stuck in the same frustrating loop.
