The Toronto Maple Leafs are suddenly looking forward to the 2024-2025 season, rekindling the hope that faded after their first-round playoff elimination against the Boston Bruins. A new head coach and roster additions were enough of a shakeup, but the Leafs took it a step further by naming the franchise’s face and NHL superstar Auston Matthews as captain, succeeding former captain John Tavares.
The Maple Leafs are once again optimistic in their ability to end Toronto’s 50-year Stanley Cup drought, thanks to their dependence on Auston Matthews, who wears the captain’s “C” on his chest. But what are the expectations in the league following their offseason?
According to NHL on TNT analyst Eddie Olczyk, the Maple Leafs are among the top Stanley Cup candidates entering the 2024-2025 season. He recently spoke with Bryan Hayes and Dave Feschuk on TSN’s OverDrive about the Leafs’ summer and their major captaincy move. With the personnel and organisational revamp, Olczyk set high hopes for their season: to be one of the final four playoff teams.
“I’m expecting a run,” he explained. “What about the run? I’m not sure, but I have no doubt that they have the team to advance to the National Hockey League’s final four. That’s my gut feeling regarding this team. Only time will tell if it happens.
If the Maple Leafs achieve Olyczyk’s aim and proceed to the Easter Conference Finals, it will be the first time this team has reached that stage of the postseason since the 2001-2002 season. They lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games that series, and they haven’t played in the conference finals in 23 years.
Matthews is the first American-born captain in Maple Leafs history, and only the second non-Canadian player to hold the position. Mats Sundin wore the “C” for 11 seasons and was from Sweden, making him the only other non-Canadian to lead the club. As the Maple Leafs enter the next chapter of their hockey history, the pressure and expectations on Matthews and his teammates only increase.
