NHL Notebook: Matthew Tkachuk feels sorry for Maple Leafs, who have ‘so much to deal with’ playing in Toronto

It ain’t easy being at the centre of the hockey universe.

Following his team’s 6-1 win over the Maple Leafs in Game 7 on Sunday, Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk mentioned that he feels bad for what his Atlantic Division rivals have to deal with playing in Toronto.

“Sometimes you feel bad for [the Maple Leafs] because they have some unbelievable players and a great team,” Tkachuk said during an appearance on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast.  I was actually saying this last night to some of the guys, if their team wasn’t in Toronto dealing with all the crazy circus stuff outside of it, they’d be an unbelievable team and such a hard team to play. They just have so much to deal with, and I feel bad. We don’t have to deal with that in Florida, I feel like that’s what makes me and my team so lucky.”

The Leafs finished first in the Atlantic Division with a 52-26-4 record and beat the Ottawa Senators in six games in the first round of the playoffs. They got out to a 2-0 series lead against the Panthers in the second round and then dropped three in a row. They edged out a 2-0 win on the road in Game 6 and then got hammered at home in Game 7.

“Just a s—– game,” forward William Nylander said about his team’s Game 7 loss. “That’s about it.”

Being one of the NHL’s Final Four teams has eluded the Core Four in Toronto over the past decade. They drafted Nylander in 2014, Mitch Marner in 2015, and Auston Matthews in 2016, and they signed John Tavares in 2018. While the Leafs have made the playoffs in nine consecutive seasons, they haven’t come close to the Stanley Cup.

The loss to Florida marks the ninth year in a row that the Leafs have been knocked out in the first or second round of the playoffs. The last time Toronto advanced to the Eastern Conference Final was before the salary cap era in 2001-02. The team hasn’t been to the Stanley Cup Final since 1967.

There’s a serious possibility for a shake-up in Toronto, given two of the team’s aforementioned core forwards, Tavares and Marner, are set to become unrestricted free agents. Marner led the team with 102 points during the regular season and had 13 points in 13 playoff games. Tavares finished second on the Leafs with 38 goals in the regular season and was their best centre on the dot, winning 58.3 percent of faceoffs.

Nylander just finished the first season of an eight-year deal worth $11.5 million annually, while Matthews is signed for two more seasons at $13.25 million annually. Tavares is coming off a seven-year, $77 million contract, while Marner is at the end of a six-year, $65.41 million deal.

Matthews scored a career-low 33 goals in 67 games for the Leafs in 2024-25, and then scored only three goals in 13 playoff games despite putting 47 shots on goal. When the Leafs cleaned out their lockers on Tuesday, Matthews revealed that he suffered an injury during training camp that lingered throughout the whole season.

“It was a very tough season,” Matthews said about his undisclosed injury. “I don’t need to get into specifics, but I got injured in training camp. Obviously wasn’t feeling great throughout the first month of the season, took some time off, went to Germany, did all these things to try to feel better. (I) was in a place where I felt like I could manage it.”

Matthews added that he won’t require surgery and he’ll be ready for the 2025-26 season: “I’ll be back 100 percent,” he said. “There’s nothing really to worry about.”

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