Do the Leafs or Oilers have a higher chance of missing the playoffs?
To say it has been a rocky start to the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers would be putting it lightly. Two teams with Stanley Cup aspirations entering the 2025-26 campaign, and both have faltered through the first quarter.
Entering Saturday night, the Maple Leafs sat seventh in the Atlantic Division with a record of 9-9-3, while the Oilers found themselves sixth in the Pacific Division at 9-9-5
While both organizations looked to build around superstars and tinker after falling short in past years, the Stanley Cup seems like a lofty goal at this point. So much so, that even qualifying for the postseason could be in question.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton dove into whether the Maple Leafs or Oilers are more likely to fall short of the playoffs.
Yaremchuk: These are two teams who came into the year with Stanley Cup aspirations, who are both sitting .500 right now. Who’s in more danger of missing the playoffs, the Oilers or the Leafs?
Hutton: You can make an argument for both teams and firepower and where they’re at, but I’m going to say that more likely to miss is the Toronto Maple Leafs. I just do not like what they’ve done there. I think their back end is slow, I don’t think their goaltending is that good, and I just err on the side of there’s more superstar status in Edmonton than there is in Toronto.
With Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, I just feel like they can will that Oilers team into the playoffs, and they can find ways to get hot.I feel like they’re gonna find a viable backup that can play if Stuart Skinner gets going. Skinner also doesn’t worry me, because he’s been through this so many times. It’s like rinse and repeat, so I do feel like he will find a way to get streaky out of this.
For the Toronto Maple Leafs, I sincerely worry that they just aren’t a complete hockey team anymore with the way that they’re built and injury bugs. You can say what you want, but I’m taking the Leafs as the team that could miss.
You can catch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…