The Toronto Maple Leafs have a long and storied history, which is expected from a team that has been around since 1917-18. Modern-day NHLers continue to contribute in meaningful ways to all-time records, and members of the Maple Leafs are no exception. The 2024-25 season featured Auston Matthews reaching the 400-goal plateau in a 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on April 15. He became the 110th player in NHL history to accomplish the feat, joining a list of 10 active skaters who have hit that mark. He also became the sixth-fastest player in NHL history to 400 goals, requiring 628 games. Only Wayne Gretzky (436 games), Mike Bossy (506), Mario Lemieux (508), Brett Hull (520), and Jari Kurri (608) did it faster.
The Maple Leafs also clinched the Atlantic Division title in the shutout win over the Sabres. The team has won its division three times in the expansion era, which began in the 1967-68 campaign. The Maple Leafs established a new single-season high with 25 road wins in 2024-25. Toronto also posted nine comeback victories after trailing by one goal in the third period last campaign, tying the franchise’s second-best mark.
Auston Matthews
Matthews registered 33 goals and 78 points across 67 regular-season appearances in 2024-25. Despite dealing with a lingering upper-body injury, he was productive when he was in the lineup and still owns the fifth-highest goals per game (0.64) in NHL history. He needs one more 20-goal season to become the fourth member of the Maple Leafs to reach double digits in that category. Mats Sundin has the most with 13, and he tops the team list with 10 30-goal seasons. Matthews can draw even with Sundin with another 30-goal effort in 2025-26. Matthews already has more 40-goal seasons (6) and 60-goal seasons (2) than any skater in Toronto’s history. If he reaches the 50-goal plateau in 2025-26, he would tie Rick Vaive for the most in franchise history. Matthews also needs one more 100-point campaign to break a 2-2 tie with Darryl Sittler for the most by a Maple Leaf.
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Matthews has the longest active streak of consecutive 30-goal seasons with nine, and he became the first United States-born player in NHL history to achieve a goal streak of that length and consistency. He can be the 12th player in league history to hit double digits if he qualifies for the 30-tally threshold again in the upcoming campaign. He also needs a mere 42 points to move ahead of the late, great Borje Salming and claim the No. 4 spot on Toronto’s all-time list. Additionally, Matthews is only 20 goals from surpassing Sundin for the most in franchise history. The 27-year-old Matthews didn’t need offseason surgery and expects to be healthy ahead of training camp. If he puts his injury woes behind him, he should comfortably reach plenty of milestones in 2025-26.
William Nylander
William Nylander is quickly approaching a few offensive milestones. He has accumulated 262 goals, 350 assists, and 612 points across 685 regular-season outings. After scoring 40 goals in three straight campaigns, including a career-high 45 markers in 2024-25, lighting the lamp 38 more times to get to the 300-mark is quite attainable. He should also be capable of contributing 50 more helpers to arrive at 400. After all, he had 58 assists in 82 games during the 2023-24 campaign. Finally, an 88-point effort in 2025-26 would give him 700 career points. He had 87 points in 2022-23 and 98 in 2023-24 before falling slightly below that pace to 84 last campaign. However, he could get additional minutes and opportunities to play with Matthews at even strength due to the departure of Mitch Marner.
The 29-year-old Nylander can overtake Daniel Sedin (16) for the most overtime goals by a Swedish player in NHL history if he scores four more times under those conditions in 2025-26. Nylander is tied with Matthews for the second-most overtime markers among Toronto skaters, one behind Sundin. Nylander should move ahead of Tomas Kaberle and Sundin for the second-most overtime points in the 2025-26 campaign. The Maple Leafs won 10 straight games in the extra session last season after losing the first two and should be successful beyond regulation time again.
John Tavares
John Tavares has been a productive player across 16 seasons in the NHL. He chose to stay in his hometown on a bargain deal that carries a 4.38 million cap hit over four years rather than test free agency. He topped 1,100 points in 2024-25 and is just seven away from reaching 500 as a member of the Maple Leafs. He is also only six goals shy of reaching 500 and could become the 49th player in NHL history to accomplish the feat this campaign. However, he could face some competition for that placement from Patrick Kane, who is eight tallies away from No. 500.
Most of the all-time leaders in overtime goals are active players, but Tavares can still move into the top five of the list in 2025-26 if he scores twice. That would leapfrog him ahead of Jaromir Jagr, who continues to play overseas in Czechia at the age of 53. The 34-year-old Tavares faces a similar situation in faceoffs, though he has much more ground to make up to get in front of Patrice Bergeron, who sits second on the all-time list with 14,493 wins on the draw. Tavares currently ranks eighth overall with 11,310. Still, another 800-plus wins in 2025-26, which is something he’s done in two of the past four campaigns, would narrow the gap.
Morgan Rielly
Morgan Rielly, the longest-tenured member of the Maple Leafs, is close to pulling ahead of Kaberle in a couple of offensive categories. The 31-year-old Rielly needs only 12 assists and eight points to become Toronto’s second-highest producer among blueliners. However, he is still a long way away from surpassing Salming in those statistics. Salming also has a big edge in the goal department with 148 to Rielly’s total of 87. A potential return to the top power-play combination in the 2025-26 campaign could aid Rielly in his efforts to get back on track offensively.
He also sits 84th on the all-time list in blocked shots with 1,203 and has the most career blocks in franchise history. He stopped a career-high 137 shots in 2023-24 and got in front of 131 pucks last season. He should continue to climb the charts in the upcoming campaign, though he will be in a battle with Chris Tanev for the team’s 2025-26 crown. Tanev established a new single-season record last campaign with 189 blocks in his first go around with the Maple Leafs.
Several Benchmarks Are Within Reach
There will be several stories and milestones worth monitoring for the Maple Leafs this season. Marner would’ve been in the mix for several all-time marks had he stayed in the organization, and attempting to make up for his contributions with better depth in the bottom six will be a major storyline in the 2025-26 season. However, for that to work, the team’s goaltending needs to be top-notch again, and the goal scoring must continue to be opportunistic. Assuming that plan holds together, it will be interesting to see how the team performs under head coach Craig Berube during his second season behind the bench.
A return to form from Matthews and the potential for an increased role from Nylander could help keep the Maple Leafs near the top of the division. Tavares remains a key contributor, while Matthew Knies, who is only six points away from 100 for his career, will be counted on to find another level. Most of the attention for the Maple Leafs revolves around the playoffs and breaking what has been an unbearably long Stanley Cup drought. Still, individual accolades can add some enjoyment to a long regular season and celebrating them is important to maintaining some form of sanity.
Statistics courtesy of NHL Records.
