After back-to-back road losses in Calgary and Seattle, the Maple Leafs spent Friday’s extended practice at UBC Thunderbird Arena trying to smooth out the parts of their game that have gone missing during a packed early schedule.
Jim Hiller pointed to a simple problem with a messy impact: the team has not had enough practice time to clean up the details. He said the Leafs have been dealing with turnovers, trouble holding the offensive zone, and too many rush chances against when the five-man unit gets disconnected.
“We've practiced maybe two or three times in the last month so it's really been something that I believe has hurt our game. So we took some time today to go a little slower and work through some things,” Hiller acknowledged. “I'm not going to tell you what they were, but I think we made some progress in some areas that we've been struggling.”
One of the clearest themes from the session was line changes. Hiller repeatedly stopped drills and sent fresh players over the boards, a sign that the timing and organization of changes has been under the microscope.
“Just cleaning up our line changes just a little bit. That’s an important part of the game when you go through chances.
A lot of times, a good chunk of them come off of line changes and being organized coming out of it and also getting on and off the ice quickly. That’s an area of the game we wanted to touch up.”
So far, the Leafs have been getting by more on elite finishing and special teams than on clean 5-on-5 structure or shot suppression, and that has left them exposed to quality looks the other way.
There is at least a chance to reset soon. After Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks, the club will be home for nearly a full three consecutive weeks, giving them time to use practices to tighten up the areas that have been slipping.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs Face A Goaltending Decision Fans Wont All Agree On
The Maple Leafs are weighing a familiar kind of early-season choice in net, one that can look simple from the outside and feel a lot messier inside the room. Anthony Stolarz has given them a steadier run so far, while the club is also trying to keep an eye on workload as the schedule starts to tighten.
Sergei Bobrovsky remains part of the equation, though his start has not matched expectations and the Leafs have to decide whether to keep leaning on the hotter hand or give him another chance to settle in. It is the sort of decision that can shape not just the next game, but the way Toronto manages its crease over the coming stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Leafs Pulled This One Out Even With Too Much Going Wrong
The Maple Leafs found a way to get past Vancouver 4-2, and it was the kind of win that can look cleaner on the scoreboard than it felt in real time. Toronto leaned on a strong second period to take control, even as some key players had rough nights and the overall performance never really settled into a comfortable rhythm.
Vancouver generated more shots, but the Canucks did not make enough of that volume count, which left Toronto in position to close it out late. The result still matters for the Leafs, especially on a night when the usual margin for error seemed thinner than it should have been, and it comes with the added backdrop of roster chatter around the league, including the Ducks signing Jensen to a two-year deal and the ongoing no-trade list angle involving Toronto. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs New Throwback Plan Feels Like A Missed Opportunity
The NHLs new Hometown Remix program was built to give all 32 teams a fresh alternate look, and for the Maple Leafs it comes with a nod to the franchises 1927 design. On paper, it is exactly the kind of throwback concept that usually plays well in Toronto, where history and identity still matter plenty when the sweater gets changed up.
The catch is in the rollout, which trims the Leafs use of the jersey to a small handful of themed nights in 2026-27, with most of the wear dates packed into November. The slate runs through games against New Jersey, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Carolina, but the limited schedule leaves the feeling that the club could have leaned into the look more often and made a bigger event out of it. [Read more 🡒]