No Fixing These Maple Leafs

There are a few guarantees in life: death, taxes, and the Toronto Maple Leafs losing in the playoffs. The Florida Panthers eliminated the Leafs in Game 7, defeating them by an embarrassing final score of 6-1. It was another classic example of Toronto imploding in the postseason.

Everyone is asking the same question now about the Maple Leafs. How do you fix this?

What if you can't?

The Maple Leafs have tried everything in the past decade to pursue a Stanley Cup and try to end the organization's half-century-long championship drought. They struggled and procured several top draft picks that became building blocks for the team. Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner have been the leaders for nearly a decade in Toronto, and they are three of the most gifted players in the NHL.

When they needed a bit of help, the organization went out and signed veteran John Tavares to ease the burden. When that wasn't enough, the team went all-in to acquire better depth and goaltending over the following years. When that failed, they fired coaches, general managers, and turned over their executive team.

The result has remained the same.

These Toronto Maple Leafs cannot be fixed. The efforts were true and dilligent, but they failed. The Maple Leafs are no closer to a Stanley Cup championship in 2025 than they were before drafting Matthews first overall.

This Game 7 loss surely stings Toronto, but perhaps this will become an actual watershed moment for the organization. Despite all of their efforts with this current core, they are not a championship team. They can bury their heads in the sand, recuperate, and try again in 2025-2026, subjecting themselves to the NHL equivalent of the Myth of Sisyphus. Another possibility would be to acknowledge that there is no fixing this team and acknowledge the massive changes needed to finally end this team's championship drought.