The Maple Leafs were the NHL’s most disappointing team in 2025-26

Toronto Maple Leafs fans have been treated to crushing playoff losses for most of the last decade, so maybe there’s a bit of relief that this Leafs season will come to a merciful end on Wednesday when Toronto visits the Ottawa Senators for their final game of the regular season.

The Leafs, who won the Atlantic Division last year and were projected by most to make the playoffs again this year, even accounting for the loss of star forward Mitch Marner, have fallen well short of those expectations. The team has locked up last place in the Atlantic Division, and second last place in the Eastern Conference. Other teams, like the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and Winnipeg Jets, have had seasons to forget, but it’s hard to argue against Toronto being the NHL’s most disappointing team this year.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Colby Cohen discussed what made the Leafs such a disappointment this year.

Colby Cohen: The level of disappointment towards the Toronto Maple Leafs, it just couldn’t be higher. I’m a big fan of Craig Berube. I think he’s a great guy, he’s a great motivator, and I think when he can’t get the group going, especially early on, I think it’s more the group than it is him, to be honest. So, I look at the talent that they have, I know that they screwed up their roster, and I think that they messed with not having a real replacement for Mitch Marner. I think everybody overlooked how big of a deal that would be, to not have all those points and all those minutes in your lineup at a high level. I think Toronto sits alone at the top of the throne for disappointments for me. I like when Toronto is good, I’ll be honest, so I’m personally disappointed.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Wednesday’s episode here…