Will new-look Leafs make the playoffs in a strong Atlantic Division?

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2025-26 season will go down as one of the worst in the modern history of the franchise. They finished with a 32-36-14 record and 78 points, last in the Atlantic Division and 28th in the league, causing them to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16.

But it was those poor results that spurred an offseason of turnover for the Leafs. It started with the front-office hirings of John Chayka and Mats Sundin, followed days later by Toronto winning the NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select Gavin McKenna with the No. 1 overall pick.

They traded and extended a heavy-shot defenseman in Darren Raddysh; signed future Hockey Hall of Fame goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and acquired Nick Paul on July 1, then on the eve of the regular season, traded Matthews Knies for a dynamic winger in Kirill Marchenko.

Read more: How did Gavin McKenna look in his NHL debut?

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss how the Leafs look so far and what their odds are of making the playoffs next spring.

Tyler Yaremchuk: After watching the Leafs and seeing how Marchenko and McKenna looked, let me put this to you: There is a ____ % chance the Maple Leafs are a playoff team this year.

Carter Hutton: Oooh, I still think it’s a pretty good percentage. I’d say 20% they’re a playoff team. The Atlantic is star-studded, but I think they find their way. I think against Montreal, they ran into a team that didn’t have to undergo as many changes in the summer. The Leafs are a moving train and it’s going to take a bit of time, but I think they’re a better team now then they were last year.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…