The Toronto Maple Leafs finished their first-round series win of the 2025 NHL Playoffs against the Ottawa Senators with a 4-2 victory in game six. Recent post-season history does not shine brightly on the team’s core, so the team was happy to face their easiest introduction in the previous four years. Fans should celebrate this success because below are the top three concerns heading into round two against the Florida Panthers.
Leafs’ goaltender Anthony Stolarz has proven unable to steal a win. While it’s possible to go on a run with an average goalie, it’s unlikely and much harder on the skaters. His 2025 post-season save percentage of 0.899 doesn’t allow much wiggle room for the team’s inconsistent core. The superior talent of the Panthers will be a much steeper test for the Toronto netminder. Management has struggled to find a clear number-one goalie since Frederik Anderson five years ago. Since then, their best post-season goaltender has been Jack Campbell.
This series did not help the Leafs’ poor image around a lack of killer instinct and work ethic. On paper, these games shouldn’t be close. After an inspiring 6-2 game one win, Toronto lost two games, and did not win by multiple goals again until the last one.
The Leafs have been an elite regular-season team for years. This season, they led the Eastern Conference with a .640 RPt% (a team’s point efficiency by counting overtime losses as 0 points and shootout games as a tie). This has rarely equated to post-season success for Toronto, with this being only the second time fans have seen a first-round series win since 2004.
Their lack of playoff work ethic was apparent. Leafs forward William Nylander is on the hot seat, and rightfully so. He most notably gave up on a play with plenty of time remaining, costing his team a short-handed goal in game five. This upset fans and critics alike, including NHL Network analyst Mike Rupp.
Per Maple Leafs Daily, Rupp stated, “I don’t want to call out Willy Nylander, but the short-handed goal against, his body language stunk. It stunk. This guy could run this league. He is that talented, but he doesn’t have that killer instinct. We’ve talked about Auston Matthews in Game 7’s… Doesn’t have that killer instinct. At some point, you have to lead. You have to lead in this situation. You have 17 guys on your bench who are watching and want to see you get uncomfortable. If you get uncomfortable, it gets everyone jacked up. He just won’t do it. It drives me nuts. His give a ‘you know what’ isn’t there unless he has the puck.”
Toronto also has an ongoing issue with its ‘Core Four’ performing in the playoffs. +/- is not the be-all-end-all stat, but one would assume at least one of those four would be on the positive side, but it was not so in the 2025 series with the Senators. Despite elite talent, some of their star’s lack of defensive effort is more costly than their value. Nylander, for example, leads the team in goals and points, yet is tied for last in +/-. It will take much more than slick hands to reach the Stanley Cup.
Many fans are expressing how different the team feels after this first-round win. However, they say that every year, the only noticeable difference this time is the skill level of their opponent. Toronto can prove critics wrong in the upcoming series with Florida, but their track record is poor.
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