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The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered another disappointing postseason exit in 2025. They faced the Florida Panthers in the second round and had a 2-0 series lead early on. In fact, they had a chance to go up 3-0 against Florida. But the defending champions found their stride, defeating Toronto in six games. And in NHL Free Agency, Mitch Marner ushered in a significant shift with the Maple Leafs.
Marner left Toronto after spending the first nine seasons of his career with his hometown team. He joined the Vegas Golden Knights on a sign-and-trade agreement, which landed Toronto center Nicolas Roy. The former Maple Leafs star went on to sign an eight-year contract with the Golden Knights after the move became official.
2025-26 will mark the first season since 2018-19 where Toronto doesn't have its “Core Four” — Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander. It's a move many argue is overdue. Many believed the team needed a shakeup at the top of the lineup a few years ago.
How ever you feel about that, this is the reality for the Maple Leafs. They have to move forward without one of their best players. They made a few moves in the offseason. In saying this, there is a broader area of need they could have address this summer. And it could have an impact on how the 2025-26 season pans out.
A more direct Mitch Marner replacement would have benefited Maple Leafs
It was always going to be difficult to replace Marner. He scored 102 points in 2024-25, and he's been one of the more productive players in the NHL over the last several seasons. This is a player who has the talent to lead a team on a deep playoff run. It just never worked out in Toronto.
On one hand, some could view his departure as an upgrade in and of itself. Again, Marner is not a bad player. Quite the contrary, he's very easily an elite offensive producer. Furthermore, he is one of the better defensive forwards in the NHL. This is a player any team would move heaven and earth to acquire if they had the chance.
For whatever reason, though, he couldn't lead this team to the Cup. The mix with him, Matthews, Tavares, and Nylander did not produce the needed results. Espeically in the postseason when they ran up against legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
All this said, losing 100+ points in your lineup is significant. The Vancouver Canucks are a slight example of this. Elias Pettersson scored 102 points in 2022-23. Since then, though, his offense has declined. And the Canucks have struggled to replace the points lost by his decline.
The Maple Leafs have tried to do what Vancouver has done. They are attempting to replace his points in the aggregate. This is not a bad strategy, and it's certainly easier than swinging a trade for an elite player. This summer, the Maple Leafs added Roy, Matias Maccelli, and Dakota Joshua to the forward group.
Unfortunately, this group does not appear able to come close to Marner's production, even in the aggregate. The Maple Leafs should have worked harder to find a more direct replacement. This doesn't need to be an elite player. However, convincing Nikolaj Ehlers to sign in Toronto, for example, could have given this group a much better look.
The Maple Leafs are still a good team. It would be a surprise to see them fall off significantly without Marner, in fact. But it's hard to argue that a more significant move this offseason wasn't needed given the circumstances.
