
How Far Can the Maple Leafs Really Go This Season?
Maple Leafs at midseason: stop panicking, avoid radical trades, and focus on who belongs for the long-term rebuild.

Maple Leafs at midseason: stop panicking, avoid radical trades, and focus on who belongs for the long-term rebuild.

Some Canadian teams controlled the night. Others chased it. Tuesday offered a quiet but telling snapshot of where things stand.

Can the Maple Leafs bottle the confidence from this road trip and turn it into a real push up the standings?

Did Mitch Marner’s exit open the door for Matthew Knies to become Toronto’s next breakout star?

Quinn Hughes for Matthew Knies? Looks neat on paper, but giving up core talent makes this flashy trade a risky gamble.

How are Matthew Knies and John Tavares quietly shaping the Maple Leafs this season? Can youth and experience combine to change Toronto’s fortunes?

The Maple Leafs had it in control at 2–0—until they didn’t. A 4–2 loss, despite Woll’s heroics. What caused the meltdown?

A strange start, a lost structure, and Joseph Woll holding it together again. Why do the Maple Leafs keep letting these games slip away?

Which Canadian NHL teams are surprising, slipping, or shining early this season—and what does The Athletic see for their Olympic hopes?"