Mitch Marner stared at the ice, shell-shocked and heartbroken, as the quickest post-series handshake line in recent memory wrapped behind him. The winger then raised his stick to salute the sparse crowd alongside his teammates.
He hung his head again before gliding off the Scotiabank Arena ice.
That somber moment won't be the lasting image of Marner in a Maple Leafs uniform. Instead, it'll be the 28-year-old screaming "Wake the f--k up!" at the Leafs bench in the second period of Sunday's Game 7, when, ironically, Marner himself needed to be shaken out of a daze in the middle of a woeful 6-1 loss to the Panthers.
This Leafs team was supposed to be "different." It was during the regular season and for stretches of a 13-game postseason. But not when adversity struck. Fans were instead treated to familiarity - another meltdown.
Toronto couldn't handle a strong push from Florida to start Sunday's second period, failed to show any life in the third, and soon watched a handful of disgusted patrons throw jerseys onto the ice. The Leafs, up 2-0 in the second-round series, put forth unacceptable performances in Games 5 and 7.
"For me, it's all between the ears. It's a mindset," Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters after the loss. "These guys are capable of doing it. You've just got to execute, and we didn't execute."
Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly are now 0-6 in Game 7s - an unfathomably poor record for such a talented core. Even more troubling, that core has scored more than one goal in just one of those elimination games.
This playoff run, which included seven wins, technically stands as the deepest of the Matthews-Marner era. But it doesn't feel like progress when the core has produced only two series victories in nine years. What a waste of a decade.
It's the hope - the small, blissful bursts of belief - that kills Leafs fans' spirits.
So, what now?
Shanahan and Marner
Change is most definitely on its way in Leaf land. It's a matter of how much.
For starters, general manager Brad Treliving and Berube shouldn't be worried about their jobs. Both were hired within the past two years and are generally viewed in a positive light. Treliving has most notably built out a formidable blue line, while Berube implemented a much-needed north-south brand of hockey.
Their boss, on the other hand, is all but gone. President Brendan Shanahan, hired in 2014 and on an expiring contract, has overseen the whole era. He drafted the core players, coddled and paid them, and held onto them for too long. Shanahan's on his third GM (previously Lou Lamoriello, Kyle Dubas) and fourth permanent head coach (Randy Carlyle, Mike Babcock, Sheldon Keefe).
Moving on from Shanahan is an obvious move. What Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley does with the president position is less clear.
Does Pelley find an elder statesman to oversee Treliving? Does he promote Treliving to president, allowing him to bring in a new GM? Would that GM, presumably a first- or second-timer, come from within (assistant GM Brandon Pridham, for instance) or elsewhere (Mathieu Darche of the Lightning comes to mind)? Or does Treliving become a one-man show as president/GM?
Toronto had four pending unrestricted free agents in its Game 7 lineup. Two - Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz - are afterthoughts in the big picture because the others are Marner and former captain John Tavares, a pair of longtime core pieces who made a combined $21.9 million in 2024-25.
Marner has been both a lovable character and punching bag for the fan base since 2019, when he squeezed every last dollar out of the Leafs on his second NHL contract. He's a Selke Trophy-caliber forward who's scored at a 92-point pace over his career but has consistently failed to rise to the occasion in the playoffs. Although the Leafs attempted to re-sign Marner midseason, Treliving also asked him to waive his no-movement clause around the trade deadline in an effort to acquire superstar Mikko Rantanen from the Hurricanes.
The odds of Marner returning are close to zero. The team's better off spending his cap hit on multiple players, while Marner desperately needs a scenery change. Despite his postseason struggles, Marner will command upwards of $14 million a year as the top UFA. Potential landing spots include Carolina, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, and Utah.
Tavares and the rest
Tavares' situation is not so cut and dried. On one hand, most Leafs fans would like Treliving to get rid of another part of the problem. On the other, Tavares really wants to stay in Toronto. If he's willing to take a major discount ($4.5 million a year range) and a lesser role, he might be the Leafs' best bet for third-line center. The 34-year-old just put up 74 points in 75 games.
Regardless of Tavares' future, this is fully Matthews' and Nylander's team.
Matthews, who struggled to score goals all season amid injury issues, is under contract for three more years. Nylander, coming off an up-and-down postseason and a career-high 45 regular-season goals that ranked second in the NHL, is locked up for seven more campaigns. Both own no-movement clauses.
Matthew Knies, arguably Toronto's best forward in the playoffs, is another high-impact piece for the present and future. Treliving needs to sign the pending restricted free agent to a long-term deal sooner rather than later. The power winger is an offer-sheet candidate, and the Leafs can't afford to lose him like the Oilers lost RFAs Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg last offseason.
The other Leafs signed past 2026-27: forward Max Domi, defensemen Rielly, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jake McCabe, and goalie Joseph Woll. The club's other netminder, Anthony Stolarz, is a 2026 UFA and thus eligible to sign an extension on July 1. Toronto seems set in net for a while.
The Leafs enter the offseason with $26.9 million in 2025-26 cap space, according to PuckPedia. Sixteen of 23 NHL roster spots are currently filled.
Offseason priority No. 1: acquire two top-six forwards - one to replace Marner at first-line right wing, another to replace Tavares at second-line center.
Treliving must also address the lack of offensive punch in the forward group's bottom six. Toronto received just seven playoff goals from its third and fourth lines in the postseason, with Domi and Pacioretty accounting for six. (Pacioretty, of course, played a chunk of the series on Line 2, as well.)
The defense corps, while old, is in pretty good shape overall. It's rangy, strong, and mobile. Dynamism is the one issue. There's limited offensive creativity beyond Rielly. Adding a gifted puck-moving middle-pair guy would go a long way.
As for options, forward Easton Cowan is the club's only A-level prospect on the cusp of making the NHL, and he's no savior. Florida's Sam Bennett and Colorado's Brock Nelson would be fantastic fits at 2C, and Vancouver's Brock Boeser would look nice on Matthews' wing. But, with such a lackluster UFA class, the Leafs will be one of a dozen (if not dozens of) teams vying for those players' services. (Heck, Bennett and Nelson might re-sign before July 1.)
The trade route could be more fruitful. One factor Treliving can't ignore - especially in pursuing a Marner replacement - is the psychological component of the playoff failures. The core pieces are all wired similarly. The lineup and dressing room need more stone-cold killers like Brad Marchand.
The backdrop to the offseason is an increasingly competitive Atlantic Division. The Panthers and Lightning will be forces again next year. The Senators, Canadiens, and Red Wings are only getting better. What makes another frustrating playoff exit exponentially more painful for Leafs fans is that their team set itself up for success this year by winning the division.
Over the Matthews-Marner era, the franchise has mixed up the leadership dynamic, added sandpaper, improved the goaltending, revamped the blue line, and swapped out GMs and coaches. Somehow, none of it has led to a conference final appearance. Not one. Will next year be any different?
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).
