The kids
The time has never been more right for giving Easton Cowan a bigger role. The Leafs (checks notes) did the right thing and gave the rookie 15 minutes against the Lightning, and 15 minutes now seems like the bare minimum for a player who ideally is a big part of the franchise getting back on track.
His minutes need to get tougher and head into 2026-27 prepared to face top line competition or give the Maple Leafs an understanding of how far away he is from being able to handle that and give him a meaningful development plan for the summer.
Jacob Quillan being a part of the Maple Leafs for the remainder of the season is also the right call unless he clearly isn’t an NHLer in the eyes of the Maple Leafs brass.
Quillan’s situation isn’t the same as Cowan’s and there is no need to find him significant minutes, but seeing if he has anything to add to the penalty kill might be one area of exploration the Maple Leafs want to test. Throwing him into the deep end is somewhat required given his pending free agent status and while qualifying him seems likely, knowing if he’s penciled in as the Leafs fourth line centre or 13th forward next season vs. coming to camp next season and having to play his way onto the roster are two very different things.
To qualify or not to qualify
In addition to Quillan the Maple Leafs have Matias Maccelli, Nick Robertson, Henry Thrun, and William Villeneuve that they will need to figure out.
Maccelli seems to be developing some strong chemistry with William Nylander but having success with Nylander is very different from being able to do things on your own and the Maple Leafs should want that from a top six forward. Qualifying Maccelli also comes at high price as his actual salary for 2025-26 is $4.25M and the idea of Maccelli coming with that high a cap hit might not sit right even if he has been producing.
Nick Robertson would be cheaper to re-sign but his inconsistency and not bringing much to the table when he’s not producing makes him a question mark about continuing on with the Maple Leafs. The Leafs need to make significant changes in their lineup and Robertson taking up space in the roster means he too should be making his case for remaining a Maple Leaf in the coming games.
Henry Thrun and William Villeneuve need to get their looks in the remaining schedule as well. The Maple Leafs bringing back Villeneuve seems likely but that is still largely based off a strong 2024-25 and still remaining a mystery box when it comes to what he’d look like in the NHL. Given that the season is essentially over for the Leafs, finding out what the Leafs have in Villeneuve makes more sense than being reminded of Philippe Myers shortcomings.
Tank for the lottery or push to make the Bruins pick worse
Will the Maple Leafs play for pride and try to push their draft pick out of the top 10 or will the Leafs see if they can plummet into the bottom five of the league and be able to use their 2026 1st after all.
The Maple Leafs are just three points away from finding themselves with the sixth-worst record in the league, but it will take a significant run from a bad team to make up the eight point advantage the Leafs have over the teams presently sitting in the bottom five. Of course, if the Leafs stay bad they have a better chance of winning the draft lottery as well and that could be the play.
Reality is that players aren’t going to be given the directive to tank and they will be playing to win even if the effort is questionable at times. Brad Treliving could help the tank along with bringing in a few Marlies for looks and Craig Berube could help with balancing the ice time rather than leaning on stars, but both of them need to make cases for keeping their jobs and tanking probably doesn’t do that.
The Bruins will be getting a great pick for Brandon Carlo. You don’t need to make your peace with that but understand it is the most likely outcome.
Potentially find out how much coaching was the issue
If the Maple Leafs were to decide to let Craig Berube go early (unlikely at this point), there might be a few worthwhile experiments that can occur in the limited time Toronto would be playing under a new coach.
Mainly, how much was Berube’s approach to blame for the decline in players like Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly. Would either player see their numbers improve under a new coach after two years of declining results or do the Leafs have to accept that they are exciting their prime?
Give Stolarz a long look
Dennis Hildeby is on the rise and while continuing to have three good goaltenders next season wouldn’t be the worst outcome for Toronto, eventually this team will need to trade some assets to upgrade pressing areas of need. Goaltending might be an area of strength that the Leafs need to deal from and some strong games from Stolarz that bring his numbers back up might help.
It’s still something to do
Honestly, even if it is background noise people are still going to tune into the Maple Leafs. Maybe there will be a flood of more reasonably priced tickets for home games which will create an opportunity for a chance to see a game in person without taking out a mortgage.
Watching the Leafs might not be a priority but there will be other curious moments like giving Benoit-Olivier Groulx a cup of coffee or potentially bizarre experiments like Dakota Joshua on the top line which will be worth a look for a period or two.
The main thing to avoid will be season effects. As the Maple Leafs run out their season they might start picking up a few more wins courtesy of playoff bound teams managing their stars and goaltenders differently to rest them up and avoid injury. Results in the remaining games improving don’t mean the Leafs are improving and they will still be a full time job for the Hockey Operations staff throughout the offseason.