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The 2024-25 hockey season quickly approaches, with games beginning on Oct. 4. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ season starts Oct. 9 with a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens.
When asked about what to expect for the Leafs’ at the team’s Media Day press conference on Sept. 18, new head coach Craig Berube said, he thinks “it’s gonna be a different system, a different style of play” and that fans will notice right away.
The Leafs’ upgraded their defense, according to Berube, with the additions of Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Tanev, the 34-year-old veteran who spent parts of 10 seasons between three National Hockey League (NHL) teams, represents “the biggest addition,” according to Kyle Cushman, an NHL news editor for theScore.
In talking about Tanev in June, Leafs’ General Manager Brad Treiliving referred to him as an “elite defensive player”, “an absolute warrior” and a “culture carrier” for the locker room.
The Leafs’ added to their roster by signing Timothy Liljegren, Matt Murray and Max Domi to contract extensions.
Leafs’ off-season storylines were dominated by the Mitch Marner contract discussions, according to Cushman.
Following the upcoming 2024-25 NHL season, Marner’s contract with the Leafs’ will expire. The Leafs’ and Marner’s camp were in advanced talks to sign a contract earlier in the summer, according to TSN hockey reporter Chris Johnson, but Marner has since shut down any questions from media asking about the possible extension.
Marner struggled in the first-round of last season’s playoffs, according to TSN hockey analyst and sports commentator Craig Button, recording 1 goal and 2 assists in 7 games in the first-round matchup against the Boston Bruins.
On the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast,Treliving said he believes Marner “took a lot of heat” for his performance in the playoffs, but stood by him this off-season, saying “we are fortunate to have Mitch, we get to see him every day. He is a star.”
Also in the off-season the Leafs’ hired Craig Berube as head coach, after firing previous head coach Sheldon Keefe. Berube won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.
Berube brings a different style of play to the Leafs’, according to Cushman.
“Where the Sheldon Keefe offense was much more possession based…Berube’s game is more of attacking with speed, looking to attack off the rush,” said Cushman.
The Leafs’ currently have the 2nd best odds to win their division and the 9th best odds to win the Stanley Cup, according to FanDuel.
Standing in their way is division rival Boston Bruins and last season’s Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, according to Cushman.
Both teams made the playoffs in the 2023-24 season, with the Bruins defeating the Leafs’ in seven games in the first round. The Panthers would go on to win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.
Expectations remain sky high for a Leafs’ team coming off a 46-26-10 record, said Cushman, who thinks the team needs to win their division to “go on a deep playoff run”.
The Leafs’ have only won their division once since 2000, in the pandemic shortened season in 2020.
“You look at division winners and playoff matchups versus the matchups the two-, three-seeds have…it’s a vast difference,” Cushman said, referring to the playoff format that pits the division winner against teams with worse records.
While Cushman said fanbases anticipating a team winning a Stanley Cup coming into a season is “setting themselves up for failure”, he is optimistic that this Leafs’ team is one of the best roster’s that management has put together this century.
A journalist at On The Record.
