Filled with star power, the Toronto Maple Leafs will surely have some players closing in on significant career milestones. While the prize on most players’ minds on a contender is a coveted Stanley Cup win—or, at least a strong playoff run—there is something fun about recognizing individual milestones. Let’s discuss not just the notably important ones, but every milestone the Maple Leafs’ roster could be enjoying this season:
Goal Milestones
While relatively unlikely, John Tavares may reach the 500-goal mark in the 2024-25 season. He currently sits at 456 goals, 44 away from the big milestone. He’s scored at that pace once in his career, back in his first season with the Maple Leafs in 2018-19, so it is more likely than not that he doesn’t reach that threshold this season. What is expected, though, is that franchise center and captain Auston Matthews will reach the 400-goal milestone. He’s just 32 goals away at the moment, and considering that he’s only scored fewer than 40 twice in his career, he should certainly be expected to keep that pace up should he steer clear of injury.
In addition to those two big milestones, it’s a near guarantee that Mitch Marner will score the six goals needed for 200 in his career. With 33 goals this season, William Nylander would hit 250 for his career, and considering that he’s surpassed that in each of the last three seasons, that too can be regarded as likely. With seven goals in 2024-25, fourth-line center David Kampf would hit 50.
Assist Milestones
While he might not hit that 500-goal mark this season, Tavares will almost certainly pass through the 600-assist barrier. He’s just 16 helpers away from that total, so unless he’s plagued by injuries, he’ll reach that on the power play alone. Marner needs 55 more assists to get to 500 for his career, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to hit this milestone as a historically pass-first player with a career average of 56 assists per season.
Related: 2024-25 NHL Milestones Tracker
Morgan Rielly has the next-most career assists, and will most definitely put up the eight he needs for 400. Matthews and Max Domi are both close to the 300-assist mark, currently having 281 and 287, respectively. Both players should hit that milestone easily. Nobody on the roster is particularly close to 200 career assists, or at least shown previous history to warrant expecting a point increase enough to hit those markers. For the 100 career assist milestone, there’s really just one option for the Maple Leafs. Kampf sits at 87, who logged 11 last season but put up 20 in 2022-23. He’s surpassed 13 helpers three times in his seven years in the NHL, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
Point Milestones
Besides the goal and assist markers, there are total points. Tavares potentially has a monumental season ahead of him milestone-wise, as he could be hitting the 1,100 career point threshold in 2024-25 on top of the goal and assist markers. He’s just 60 points away, and has only scored fewer than that in two seasons: his rookie campaign (54 points) and the COVID-shortened 2020-21 (50). Matthews and Marner should both be hitting 700 career points, with the two currently sitting at 649 and 639, respectively.
Nylander sits 72 points away from 600 in his career, and considering he’s surpassed that total handsomely in each of the last three seasons, he should be considered a lock to reach that milestone. Newly signed defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson will have a good shot to reach 500—he’s currently 29 away and has only scored fewer than that in four of his 14 seasons in the NHL. Rielly is virtually a lock for that marker as well, with 472 career points to his name at this point. He’ll come close to that 500-point mark on the power play alone.
Also newly acquired, Chris Tanev should be guaranteed to surpass 200 career points. He’s got 190 at this point and hasn’t recorded a single-digit point season since 2012-13 when he played just 38 games. While unlikely, there are a few players who could reach the 100-point threshold in their young careers. For one, Timothy Liljegren could hit 100 points if he steps his point game up a bit. He’s never gotten past 23 points in a season, but paced for 34 last campaign had he stayed healthy for all 82 games. Thus, it’s not impossible that he scores the 35 points he needs to get to that 100-point mark. In addition, there are Nick Robertson and Matthew Knies, who are both very young but should be receiving legitimate opportunities in the Maple Leafs’ top six for the season. They’ve both shown flashes of brilliance, so if either one of them truly breaks out, it’s possible that they reach 100 as well. They sit at 34 and 36 points, respectively.
Games Played Milestones
Ekman-Larsson will almost definitely be reaching 1,000 games played in Toronto this season, barring any major injury. He’s just 18 games away, and considering his recent resurgence and sizeable $3.5 million cap hit, he’ll definitely get playing time on the second or third pairing. Ryan Reaves is next in line, being just 23 games away from 900 for his career. While he may be scratched for a good portion of the season, it’s hard for me to imagine a world in which he doesn’t suit up to hit his 900th in 2024-25.
Veteran defensemen Rielly and Tanev will both suit up for their 800th games this season, with both being single-digit games away from the impressive milestone. Domi will reach the 700-game marker (he needs 39 more) as will Calle Jarnkrok, who will reach that milestone on opening night. All of Matthews, Marner, and Jake McCabe will have played in 600 NHL games by mid-season if they are healthy. Kampf is just 23 games away from 500 for his career, so that’s yet another lock.
Next in line is 32-year-old Jani Hakanpää, who will hit 300 career games handily, sitting just 12 away. Both Liljegren and Connor Dewar will hit 200 NHL games within the first 10 games of the 2024-25 season. Pontus Holmberg, Knies, Robertson, Bobby McMann, and Connor Timmins should all reach the 100-game threshold if they remain in good health.
While unlikely considering the addition of sturdy goaltender Anthony Stolarz, it is possible that Joseph Woll will reach 100 career games if he takes full control of the Maple Leafs’ goaltending tandem. He currently has just 36 games played, meaning that he would have to play in 78 percent of Toronto’s games and refrain from getting injured. For reference, Juuse Saros was the only netminder to start in 78 percent of his team’s games last season. It’s highly improbable to match this, but possible if Woll steps up in a big way. Both Woll and Stolarz can—and should—hit 50 wins for their career, with current totals of 21 and 43, respectively.
All-Time Milestones
Matthews has a potentially historic season ahead of him in terms of climbing up all-time Maple Leafs records. He currently sits third in franchise history in goals scored with 368, but it’s entirely possible considering his past few seasons that he will take over the all-time lead. He’d need 53 goals to cement himself as No. 1, and considering he’s found twine 60 or more times twice in the last three seasons, I wouldn’t be shocked by any means to see him reach this incredible feat this season. With a career year, he could also take over fourth place in the all-time points leader list. He’s paced for up to 119 points before (in 2021-22), but he would even need to surpass that to reach the 120 points he’d need to overtake legend Börje Salming.
Marner and Rielly should be moving up in the all-time assists list, with Marner needing 49 to climb to fourth all-time. Rielly could jump to sixth place in franchise history with a season of at least 46 helpers. While Marner is a near-lock to produce the 49 needed, Rielly has only reached 46 assists four times in his career so it isn’t a guarantee by any means. Sitting just 10 points behind Matthews for his career, Marner should also be climbing the ranks in all-time Maple Leafs points—he could jump all the way to sixth place with a 75-point season, assuming that Matthews outproduces him.
Big Milestone Year for Veteran Maple Leafs
This has the potential to be a huge year in terms of milestones for the Maple Leafs veteran stars in Tavares, Matthews, and Marner. Tavares should at least reach landmarks in points and assists and could reach it in goals as well. Matthews and Marner will both reach multiple-century marks in goals, assists, points, and games played. Defensemen Ekman-Larsson, Rielly, and Tanev have several upcoming milestones that they’ll likely hit in 2024-25, as do seasoned forwards Kampf and Domi. The veterans have much to look forward to in this upcoming season.
