It’s easier to blow up the Maple Leafs than fix them

Each passing game seems to come with the reminder that the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t a very good hockey team. Not having Auston Matthews makes things worse. The absence of Chris Tanev throughout the season has cursed the blueline. Both of those players should be back to some degree next season, but that is at best enough to get the Maple Leafs back into the playoff race. There isn’t a lot of help on its way from the Maple Leafs farm system either. There aren’t any game changing players in available in free agency, and the impact of trades, coaching changes, or relying on goaltenders on heaters are wishful thoughts.

The question seriously needs to be asked if this is the end of the Matthews era and if it is, do the Leafs put everything on the table in the summer of 2026 and actually mean it?

Toronto isn’t short on commodities if they were to get serious about a quick teardown. Putting Auston Matthews’ name out there would instantly create the illusion of a windfall for the Maple Leafs on the futures front until that reality would cross paths with the centre only having one or two teams that he is willing to go to. In that case, keeping Matthews is the best option. Similarly, the Leafs could explore William Nylander moving, and teams have already been sniffing around Matthew Knies. There is no sense that any of them would have to be traded but listening on everyone is fair game.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson should be gone, one of the goaltenders should be gone, but if this is a teardown, perhaps moving both goaltenders is worth considering, and Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev should be considered as trade bait as well. If Morgan Rielly is willing to go, he’ll be gone, and if there is someone excited about Easton Cowan, there’s no reason why the Leafs couldn’t move him as well if the price is right.

The rest of the lineup doesn’t require the level of thought that the previously mentioned players do. Trading, buying them out, or using them to fill out the 2026-27 roster will depend on how deep the cuts are intended to go. Everyone with the exception of John Tavares is in play to some degree and if the roster decimation gets ugly enough, there’s a good chance he’ll be knocking on the GM’s door looking into his options as well.

Blowing it up and blowing it up fast is easy, therapeutic, and sets reasonable expectations for 2026-27, the problem is there are no guarantees the Maple Leafs get over this reset quickly. You have to build it back up and you are putting a lot of faith in prospects, draft picks, and small sample pros to believe that can happen. You are also putting faith in a coach and GM that you don’t yet know and an organization that hasn’t demonstrated an ability to build a winner. Blowing the team up is easy but the timeline after that is a big question mark.

Fixing the Leafs is equally difficult. The Leafs need a top four defenceman, they need a top line winger, and likely a second line center. They need to get younger, faster, and play a possession game while being tougher to take the puck away from. All the Leafs needs are big ticket items that every team is going to be competing for in the marketplace. If the Leafs are going to improve in this area they are severally limited in what they can give up and their only play might be to take some big swings on risky players to close the gap. The options seem to come with mortgaging the future further, betting on underperformers or having the right scouting intelligence that points to the ability to break out in the right situation.

Neither option seems great but one seems like delaying the inevitable. If Bill Zito and Jon Cooper walked in the door, would the Maple Leafs be Stanley Cup contenders? Maybe, but it’s still not a guarantee, and the fact that they won’t be walking in the Leafs’ door is the case and point for blowing it up. When the Leafs have assets and age hasn’t taken a couple more years of toll on the lineup, it might be time to strike. While it might make for some tough years, banking a collection of miracles to climb up the standings doesn’t mesh with the history of how things work out for the Maple Leafs. Making the tough choice to do the easier work makes sense.

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