The Toronto Maple Leafs are preparing for the 2025–26 season, aiming to compete for their 14th Stanley Cup title. The last time they won this prestigious trophy was in 1966–67, so can the Leafs bring it home again this year?
A Look Ahead to the Season
This is going to be the last time we see an 82-game NHL schedule, before the 84-game version comes into force next season. It’s also going to give us a mid-season break due to the Winter Olympics being held in Italy. The Stanley Cup Final will be held in June 2026.
This site, with a variety of NHL bets, has a section with future bets covering the Stanley Cup. The Florida Panthers franchise is the favourite to win the trophy again, having defeated the Edmonton Oilers by four games to two in 2025. The Leafs are at around +1700 at the time of writing, putting them just outside the list of favourites.
The departure of Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights removes a key offensive contributor from the lineup. However, Matthew Knies, John Tavares, William Nylander, and Auston Matthews should all be capable of adding plenty of goals this season.
This preview of the Maple Leafs’ season suggests that scoring goals shouldn’t be a problem. However, there are some question marks over how the team will fare overall. Matias Maccelli is one of the newcomers who could make a positive impact, with the Finnish left wing joining from the Utah Hockey Club.
Can They Repeat the Glory of Past Stanley Cups?
With the last Stanley Cup win coming in 1967, Toronto is currently in the midst of the longest current spell between championships in the NHL, which is also the longest drought in the league’s history. This famous last win came against the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal won the first game 6–2, but Toronto came back to triumph by four games to two in the series.
Last year saw the Leafs lose to the Florida Panthers in the second round of the playoffs. The Panthers and the Oilers have met in the finals for the last two seasons, but the loss of Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov to injury has made life more difficult for Florida before the season even began.
There are several other teams that look ready to make a challenge this season too. Behind the Panthers and the Oilers in the odds come the Carolina Hurricanes and the Colorado Avalanche. The Hurricanes are looking for their eighth consecutive playoff spot, while Colorado is going to welcome back captain Gabriel Landeskog from injury.
Minnesota Wild recently gave a record-breaking $136 million extension to the contract of star winger Kirill Kaprizov. Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights are favourites in the Western Conference, although it remains to be seen how the swap of Roy for Marner works out for them.
Given the extended gap since their last championship, the Maple Leafs will be looking to make a strong push this season. We’ll need to wait to see whether the team can finally win this iconic trophy again.
