3 early Maple Leafs offseason predictions after missing 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Toronto Maple Leafs have just 78 points with one game to go in the regular season, second-worst in the Eastern Conference. They have already fired general manager Brad Treliving, and more changes are coming to Toronto. The Maple Leafs will certainly fire Craig Berube, but what other changes could be coming?

The changes obviously depend on who the next general manager is. Treliving hired Berube to try to break through in the playoffs, and it did lead to just the second playoff series win in the Core Four era. But this year was a complete disaster, starting with the loss of Mitch Marner and ending with the injury to Auston Matthews. Changes are coming, and these are just some to expect.

Craig Berube will be fired as Maple Leafs coach

Berube won the Stanley Cup in his first season with the St Louis Blues and stuck around for six years. But midway through the 2023-24 season, he was fired by the club. He was a free agent for the remainder of that season before Treliving and the Maple Leafs made him the head coach before the 2024-25 season.

The hiring was a solid one at the time, and it yielded results in year one. But this year has been nothing short of a disaster, and a new general manager needs to wash all of the stink out of the locker room. Firing Berube would not solve all of the problems, but keeping him is not conducive to a good season in 2026-27.

Who the Maple Leafs hire will depend on the new general manager. Florida Panthers assistant general manager Sonny Mehta has been talked about for that role, which opens up his connections. Panthers assistant coach Jamie Kompon is a four-time Stanley Cup champion thanks to time in Florida and Chicago, and could be the right answer.

Auston Matthews will not be traded

Since his season-ending knee injury back in March, there have been whispers about an Auston Matthews trade. After captaining Team USA to a Gold Medal in the Olympics, Matthews has proven he can be a winner in big games. That storyline has dominated the summer for his entire career, but won’t be the easy fodder this year. That will lead to trade talk, but it will ultimately go nowhere.

This comes down to what a new general manager is willing to do and what ownership is willing to put up with. Will Chairman Keith Pelley hire a general manager who lists “Trade Auston Matthews” as one of his goals for the summer? Or will he see all of the 34 jerseys he can sell and keep the captain on the team? It may be logical in EA Sports Franchise Mode to trade Matthews, but in real life, they will look at the dollar signs.

Matthews struggled offensively before his injury, but that should not scare the Maple Leafs about his future. He is their captain and superstar, and a new general manager should see that.

A draft day firesale for the new Maple Leafs GM

The pressure is always on in Toronto, and ownership will want to get to the playoffs quickly. A common criticism of Treliving’s tenure was that he waited too long to get started in changing the roster. Pelley and the MLSE board must take that criticism to heart and tell the new GM to hit the ground running. That will lead to a massive fire sale at the NHL Draft.

The list of players that the Maple Leafs should trade is never-ending. Oliver Ekman-Larsson sat out of a game before the trade deadline for “roster management”, implying a trade was close. Nothing happened then, but an offseason trade should come about. The Maple Leafs may not have their own first-round pick from the Brandon Carlo trade last year, so getting one in a trade should be a priority.

That can only happen if the Maple Leafs package players and send them to a Cup contender. Any combination of Ekman-Larsson, Carlo, Max Domi, and Jake McCabe could head to a competitive team for their late-round pick. That would be a great way to start a quick retool in Toronto around Matthews and William Nylander.

What will the Maple Leafs do this offseason?

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