Leafs Notebook

Since 2011, Anthony Petrielli has been providing his weekly long-form breakdown of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ games and the big storylines surrounding the team.

Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly, William Nylander celebrate a Toronto Maple Leafs goal

Leafs Notebook: The magic behind Toronto’s NHL record-chasing power play

The Maple Leafs are putting together a historically-good power play this season that should probably be garnering even more attention than it has received...
Kyle Dubas, Toronto Maple Leafs GM

Leafs Notebook: With Ilya Lyubushkin in the fold, is more defense help or a...

As has become customary, Kyle Dubas started his trade deadline early. Jack Campbell was acquired on February 5, 2020; Jake Muzzin was acquired on January...
John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs

Leafs Notebook: The arguments for splitting up Tavares and Nylander, the top line’s dominance,...

Earlier this season, the Maple Leafs rearranged their top four forwards by pairing up Auston Matthews with William Nylander and John Tavares with Mitch...
Toronto Maple Leafs, Sheldon Keefe

Leafs Notebook: The goaltending crisis, a cooling-off power play, Nick Robertson’s callup, and other...

The Maple Leafs have been a little inconsistent lately, going 5-4-1 in their last 10. It comes at a time when the schedule is...
Kyle Dubas, Brendan Shanahan, Toronto Maple Leafs

Leafs Notebook: Do the issues run deeper than the goaltending?

I will be completely honest: I wrote and rewrote this article in my head approximately 100 times, before staring at a blank Word document...
Toronto Maple Leafs celebration

Leafs Notebook: A big power-play fuelled win over Florida, early returns from Mark Giordano,...

The final stretch of the season is here, and it’s going to be crazy. For the Leafs, April will feature 15 games in 30 days...
Auston Matthews, goal celebration Maple Leafs bench

Leafs Notebook: A more balanced lineup, Pierre Engvall’s best hockey as a Leaf, the...

With the final month of the season officially underway, eyes are turning towards what we have all been waiting for since last year’s postseason...
Mark Giordano, Timothy Liljegren, Toronto Maple Leafs

Leafs Notebook: Settling on a shutdown defense pairing, Mitch Marner’s ice-time uptick, and other...

As we all know by now, there is no single recipe to follow when it comes to building a Stanley Cup winner. Championship teams...
Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs

Leafs Notebook: Line tinkering in the final six games, the Leafs’ physical play, and...

The Maple Leafs officially hit 50 wins and set a franchise record in points with 106. They currently sit third overall in the league...
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Leafs Notebook: Weighing up a Bruins vs. Lightning round-one matchup, the recent special teams...

It could be purely academic at this point, but with three games remaining for each of Boston and Tampa Bay, the Bruins still have...
Auston Matthews is king, Toronto Maple Leafs

The key matchups that will determine the Maple Leafs vs. Lightning series winner

It almost seems a little surreal to finally be writing about the playoffs. After last season’s first-round exit, Leafs fans have waited a full...
Kyle Dubas, Brendan Shanahan, Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs Offseason Game Plan, Part 1: The secondary core and team depth

As the dust has settled following yet another short postseason for the Maple Leafs, clearer minds are starting to ask what’s next for the...
Toronto Maple Leafs, John Tavares, William Nylander

Maple Leafs Offseason Game Plan, Part 2: The Core

In Part 1 of our offseason game plan, we pondered some fundamental team-building questions facing the Maple Leafs this summer. As I outlined, everything starts...
Kyle Dubas, Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs Offseason Game Plan, Part 3: The Draft

In our offseason game plan series so far, we have evaluated the Maple Leafs' roster as it currently stands - both the depth and...
Kyle Dubas, Toronto Maple Leafs GM

Leafs Notebook: Thoughts on the 2022 draft, the goalie carousel, and the Matt Murray...

The NHL draft has now come and gone, and while we will continue the offseason gameplan series shortly, let’s pause and review the draft. Prior...
Kyle Dubas, Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs Offseason Game Plan, Part 4: The Matt Murray trade and free agency...

Entering the 2022 offseason, the Maple Leafs’ most pressing question was unquestionably goaltending. Leafs management acted accordingly.  They cleared out Petr Mrazek’s contract, they met...
Kyle Dubas, Toronto Maple Leafs GM

Assessing the Maple Leafs’ offseason and the question marks that remain

With the big waves of free agency behind us and training camp now under a month away, we are officially in the dog days...
Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs bench

Maple Leafs Offseason Game Plan, Part 5: The Coaching Staff

As the offseason comes to a close, so does our offseason game plan series. In the fifth and final edition – and perhaps the...
Mark Giordano, Timothy Liljegren, Toronto Maple Leafs

Five key storylines entering Maple Leafs training camp and preseason

The players have reported to their teams, training camp is underway, and preseason is about to begin. The new NHL season is upon us! The...
Kyle Dubas, Maple Leafs

Leafs Notebook: Evaluating Dubas’ four-year tenure as Leafs GM & early preseason observations

We finally got our first taste of preseason hockey over the weekend – which we will get into later in the article – but...

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