The NHL’s 2026-27 schedule is out, and the Maple Leafs are staring at a season that could go a lot of different ways. Toronto now has an 84-game slate, a reshaped roster, and a new-look bench - all of it pointing to a year that will be judged less by style points and more by whether the team can stay in the playoff race long enough to matter.
General manager John Chayka and senior advisor Mats Sundin have already put their stamp on the group. The biggest offseason additions include goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, defenseman Darren Raddysh, and first overall pick Gavin McKenna. Behind the bench, Jim Hiller takes over as head coach with Daniel Alfredsson as associate coach, and the hope is that a revamped bottom six and a different voice can help push Toronto back into the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The challenge is obvious: with so many new pieces, chemistry may take time. That makes the schedule itself part of the story, because the Leafs are going to spend a lot of the year trying to find their footing while also trying to bank enough points to stay afloat.
Toronto opens with a four-game homestand against the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, and Nashville Predators. After that, the road gets tricky right away with trips to Vegas, Colorado, and Utah.
October also includes a Western Canada swing through Edmonton, Calgary, Seattle, and Vancouver, plus a visit to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The rest of the home slate in the month features the Buffalo Sabres, Islanders, San Jose Sharks, and New York Rangers.
That opening stretch feels like a test of survival more than anything else. The Leafs need at least five points from the homestand, and the early road trip is no picnic.
Still, the Western Canada portion should be manageable enough, especially with the road support Toronto usually gets in those cities. The month-by-month projection lands at 18 points in 16 games.
November is where the calendar starts to tilt in Toronto’s favor, at least on paper. The Leafs play 13 games, with nine at home, and the month begins with a six-game homestand against the Mammoth, Canadiens, Devils, Avalanche, Wild, and Oilers.
That’s followed by home dates with the Kings, Blue Jackets, and Flyers. The road portion takes them to Chicago, the Islanders, Boston, and Pittsburgh.
The projection there is 16 points in 13 games.
December looks brutal. Toronto spends most of the month on the road after a home game against the Florida Panthers on December 3.
The Leafs visit Carolina on December 5, Dallas on December 9, Minnesota on December 15, and New Jersey on December 17 before returning home for games against the Vegas Golden Knights on December 12, the Ducks on December 13, the Tampa Bay Lightning on December 19, and the Washington Capitals on December 21. Then comes the stretch that really jumps off the page: a game in Detroit on December 22 starts a season-long seven-game road trip, which resumes after a three-day holiday break with a Boxing Day matchup against the Canadiens and ends with back-to-back games in Anaheim and Los Angeles on December 29 and December 30.
The forecast for the month is 11 points in 13 games.
January brings a more balanced setup. The Leafs finish that long road trip with games in San Jose, Washington, and Philadelphia to start the month, then settle into a five-game homestand against the Flyers, Winnipeg Jets, Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, and St.
Louis Blues. The other home game is against the Calgary Flames, while the road schedule also includes Ottawa, St.
Louis, Detroit, and Boston. The projection: 18 points in 13 games.
February is lighter, with the bye week at the start of the month and the All-Star break helping keep the workload down. Toronto hosts the Blue Jackets, Bruins, Hurricanes, and Red Wings, while the road slate includes Ottawa, Nashville, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo.
March is the grind month. The Leafs play 16 games, split evenly between home and road, making it the busiest stretch of the season.
At Scotiabank Arena, they’ll see the Red Wings, Kraken, Stars, Canucks, Panthers, Lightning, Senators, and Capitals. On the road, they draw the Hurricanes, Panthers, Jets, Rangers, Devils, Canadiens, Sabres, and Lightning.
The month’s projection sits at 18 points in 16 games, with a couple of extra points likely coming from overtime or shootout losses.
Toronto closes the regular season in April with four games: home against the Sabres and Bruins, and road dates with the Panthers on April 1 and the Rangers on April 10. The forecast there is 6 points in 4 games.
Put it all together, and the early read is that the Leafs can hang around if they survive the opening months and use November as a springboard. The tougher stretches in December and March could pull them back, but the projection still has Toronto finishing with 97 points, which would be good for third place in the Atlantic Division. There’s also the possibility of an Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
Either way, the expectation is clear: this is a retooling year in a tough division, but the fresh energy under Chayka and Sundin could make Toronto a difficult team to deal with and one capable of making an unexpected run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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