4 Maple Leafs Who Can Be Promoted to the Top Power Play Unit

The top power-play unit of the Toronto Maple Leafs will require some adjustments in the 2025-26 season. Since his rookie campaign in 2016-17, Mitch Marner has logged more ice time than any member of the team on the man advantage. He also ranked first on the Maple Leafs with 228 power-play points over that span. After an offseason trade sent Marner, a pending unrestricted free agent, to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Maple Leafs face an important decision regarding his replacement. Similar to his even-strength spot in the top six, Toronto has plenty of power-play options to pore over before the puck drops on the regular season.

The team preferred a five-forward composition for the first unit for most of the 2024-25 season. Following a sluggish start that saw the club rank 19th overall with a 20.5 power-play percentage through the first three months, the Maple Leafs heated up after the calendar flipped to 2025. From January until the end of the regular season, Toronto had the third-best power play (29.2 percent) in the league. Marner’s departure leaves a challenging hole to fill. Still, the Maple Leafs have internal options and a wealth of talent with Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies leading the charge. The team should be able to fill in the gap to form a group capable of remaining near the top of the NHL in power-play efficiency. 

Morgan Rielly

Morgan Rielly is an obvious choice to get the first crack at playing on the top combination again. He has held the position for extended stretches over his 12-year tenure with the organization. The Maple Leafs have posted solid results in the past with him as the power-play quarterback, and despite some struggles with consistency in the 2024-25 campaign, he remains the team’s top offensive blueliner. His offensive numbers could get a lift if he returned to the first unit on the man advantage. 

He doesn’t possess a booming shot from the point, registering only one connection over 90-100 miles per hour (mph) in 2024-25. He also didn’t fire the puck nearly as often as he should have last campaign, but his shots get through traffic and create additional opportunities via redirects and rebounds. He generated the fourth-most rebounds on the Maple Leafs last season across all strengths. 

Matias Maccelli 

After being acquired from the Utah Mammoth in the offseason, Matias Maccelli will likely receive every opportunity from the Maple Leafs to be successful in the 2025-26 campaign. He is poised to occupy a top-six role at even strength and could feature on the first power-play combination if the team decides to continue utilizing five forwards. 

Before the team’s move to Utah, he logged the third-most time on the man advantage and had the third-most power-play points (25) for the Arizona Coyotes in 2022-23 and 2023-24. During that span in those situations, he was second on the club with 15 primary assists. His playmaking skills would be put to great use on the power play alongside triggermen with the finishing ability of Matthews, Nylander, Tavares and Knies. 

Oliver Ekman-Larsson 

Oliver Ekman-Larsson contributed a mere four goals and 29 points over 77 regular-season games in 2024-25 before adding two tallies and four points in 13 playoff outings. His 3.4 shooting percentage in the regular season is well below his average of 6.6, and his shots per 60 minutes in all situations were the second-lowest of his career. He accounted for three shots in the 90-100 mph range while surpassing Rielly’s top speed and average shot speed. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the 34-year-old Ekman-Larsson has a harder shot from the point, but he barely contributed any power-play production while seeing most of his action on the second combination.