Bruce Boudreau isn’t buying the Maple Leafs as a playoff team next season.
The former NHL head coach said on the latest episode of Leafs Morning Take that he expects Toronto to fall short of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the 2026-27 season, and he pointed straight at the blue line as the biggest reason for his skepticism.
“I really don't think they will. I want them to.
Okay, there's a big difference there. And because I just don't think their defense is good enough yet.
I mean, I think it's old, and with 84 games, I think it's going to be a tough sledding on those guys. Berube wanted to have a real good defensive team.
Hiller in LA had a good defensive team. But I mean, these guys have still got to get the puck to the forwards if they want to score.
So you've got to play a little more upbeat. I don't think they can, and that worries me a little bit.”
Boudreau’s concern wasn’t just about defending. He also questioned whether Toronto’s veteran defense corps can hold up over the NHL’s new 84-game regular season, and whether that group can move the puck well enough to jump-start offense.
There’s no mystery about where Boudreau’s connection to the Maple Leafs comes from. Toronto selected him 42nd overall in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft, and he went on to play 134 games for the club across six seasons. He has also said before that Toronto is the only NHL team where he would consider an assistant coaching job.
While Boudreau is skeptical, Toronto is hoping new head coach Jim Hiller can help fix one of the team’s biggest issues: the power play.
That unit slipped in 2025-26, finishing at 21.3%, which ranked 15th in the NHL. For a club that had spent recent years near the top of the league with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares on the top group, that was a clear step back.
Hiller takes over after Craig Berube was dismissed in May, following Toronto’s first missed playoff season since 2016. The Maple Leafs ended 2025-26 at 32-36-14 with 78 points, finishing eighth in the Atlantic Division. Hiller was then hired the next month as the franchise’s 41st head coach under new general manager John Chayka.
Before arriving in Toronto, Hiller spent time behind the bench with the Los Angeles Kings. He went 93-58-24 in 175 regular-season games there, guided the Kings to the playoffs twice, and saw the team lose in the first round both times. Los Angeles let him go in March 2026 after a 24-21-14 start.
Hiller also already knows Toronto’s core from a previous stint as an assistant coach with the organization, which should make the transition a little smoother.
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