The Maple Leafs are only five games into the season, sitting at 2-2-1 after a wild 5-4 overtime comeback against the Nashville Predators, and nobody is handing out anything resembling a celebration banner yet. But the mood around Toronto has shifted in a way that’s hard to miss.
Last season, the conversation kept circling what had been lost and what had gone sideways. Now, the focus is starting to drift forward.
That’s why it feels like the right moment to close a few chapters.
The first one is Brad Treliving. When he took over from Kyle Dubas in 2023, he made it clear he wanted a different kind of Maple Leafs team.
He talked about adding more “snot,” and the roster did get bigger, tougher and more physical. The idea was simple enough: create space for the stars and make opponents think twice.
Instead, the team grew big and slow.
The problem was bigger than style. By leaning so hard into size and physicality, Toronto ended up asking its best offensive players to carry even more of the load. The supporting cast wasn’t generating enough offence on its own.
Now John Chayka is steering the roster in almost the opposite direction. Speed, puck skill and possession are the priorities.
He’s moved out as much of the old group as he could and brought in players who fit his way of thinking. That doesn’t mean everything is fixed.
It doesn’t. But the conversation has changed.
The same goes for Craig Berube. Treliving brought him in as a coach with a similar outlook, and the Maple Leafs became more defensively conscious and more direct, built around dumping pucks behind opponents and grinding with a heavy forecheck.
In practice, that often meant Toronto’s most creative players were being asked to give up possession instead of using it. Too many possessions ended with dump-ins, and even with all that emphasis on structure, the Maple Leafs got considerably worse defensively last season.
Jim Hiller looks far closer to Chayka in philosophy. He wants possession.
He wants his players to have the puck. Through five games, there are already signs that Toronto’s stars are getting more freedom to make plays.
Auston Matthews’ four-point game against Nashville is a clean example. Under Sheldon Keefe in his final season, Matthews had three games with at least four points, including two five-point nights.
In 140 games under Berube, he did it once. Four games into Hiller’s tenure, he’s already done it once.
That’s nowhere near enough to draw a final conclusion. But it’s enough to keep an eye on.
And then there’s the biggest chapter of all: Mitch Marner. That one may be the hardest to close, but it’s starting to look possible.
Winning the draft lottery and selecting Gavin McKenna changed the conversation, but it’s not just McKenna. Chayka has also added Sergei Bobrovsky and Darren Raddysh, and traded for a younger Kirill Marchenko.
McKenna is projected to become an elite offensive player. Marchenko adds another real scoring threat.
So the question around Toronto doesn’t have to be, “How do they replace Mitch Marner?” Maybe the better answer is that they don’t.
Maybe they build something else.
That’s what makes this early stretch interesting, even with the record sitting at a plain 2-2-1. Nothing has been proven.
Chayka’s roster might not work. Hiller’s approach might not deliver the results Toronto wants.
McKenna might need time. Some of this could vanish just as quickly as it appeared.
Still, the emotional tone around the Maple Leafs has changed. Last season, the focus was backward - on Marner, on the breakup of the Core Four, on management decisions that hadn’t worked, on another season slipping away.
Now the organization is looking ahead.
For once, the most interesting question about the Maple Leafs isn’t what they were or why it fell apart. It’s what they could become. And right now, that’s a lot more useful than despair.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs Face One Trade Question That Could Reshape Their Blue Line
The Maple Leafs have already added to their roster since the offseason, but the blue line still looks like the spot that could most use another swing. A high-impact left-side defenseman would fit the kind of upgrade Toronto has been circling, and Simon Edvinsson has emerged as an intriguing name because of his age, size and upside. For a team trying to harden its back end without sacrificing future value, he checks a lot of boxes on paper.
What makes the situation worth watching is the possibility that Detroit could be open to moving him under the right circumstances. Edvinsson has the profile of a player who would draw interest across the league, and Toronto would make sense as one of the clubs keeping tabs if the Red Wings decide to listen. For the Maple Leafs, the question is whether they want to push in now for help on the left side or trust the current group to carry the load a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
Nylanders Honest Take On A New Leafs Arrival Will Get Attention
William Nylander has been one of the Maple Leafs early catalysts this season, piling up six points in five games, but the conversation around him in a recent interview with The Athletic drifted beyond the scoreboard. Nylander touched on the arrival of Sergei Bobrovsky, a major new presence in Torontos mix, and also opened up about the people and players who shaped him growing up, giving a more personal glimpse into the winger behind the production.
There was also some notable honesty in the way Nylander discussed his connection to former Leafs star Mats Sundin, since the relationship has long carried extra weight for Toronto fans. Nylander revisited his upbringing and the hockey influences that mattered most to him, a reminder that even for a player entrenched in the present, the past still helps frame how he sees a changing Leafs roster. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Make Unusual Avalanche Lineup Move With One Big Decision Looming
The Maple Leafs are making a slightly unusual adjustment against the Colorado Avalanche, sliding Nick Blankenburg into the lineup as John Tavares steps out for the birth of his child. Head coach Jim Hiller said the club will dress seven defensemen and 11 forwards, a wrinkle that gives Toronto some extra flexibility while also opening the door for Blankenburg to get his first action of the season after being a healthy scratch through the first five games.
Blankenburg arrived on a one-year deal after a strong training camp, so this is a useful early look at how he fits once the games start to count. There is still one notable piece left hanging ahead of puck drop, though, because Hiller declined to name the starting goaltender, leaving Torontos final call in net as the other decision worth watching before the matchup begins. [Read more 🡒]