Could the Leafs miss the playoffs?

[Pyrophorus]

It would be better if we did.

The purge is so badly needed and this will help.

 

[Ignatius]

The purge is so badly needed and this will help.

Nope, you know that they will make some tweak in the off-season that the media will blow out of proportion to hype up the fanbase and the results will be the exact same in May 2026.

 

[Moridin]

They'll limp into the playoffs. Go down 3-1 in the first round. Roar back to force game seven and then lose in dramatic fashion.

This is the way.

Its been a few seasons since we got the "up 3-1 in the series and choke in game 7" ending.

I think the Leafs will go on a tear for the last 5-10 games and end up #2 in division and dominate the Lightining during the first 4 games, only to choke away the series

 

[leafsfan5]

Ehh could it be that they, for the first time since they were on their ELCs, have a coach that's attempting to teach them how to be prepared for playoff hockey. And it is indeed going like expected

They have Berube wanting them to play playoff hockey in a way that Berube wants it to be played. For example, Colorado does not play that style and has had playoff success. On the other hand, Florida excels at playing playoff hockey the way Berube wants. It all comes down to the personnel you have

The Leafs are at a philosophical crossroads and their timidness in moving a core 4 player has led to this clash. They like the dump and chase + forecheck style but the players they have aren't suited to play that way. You can sit there and blame the players for not being able to play that style, but it just doesn't optimize their strengths and at a certain point it's on management for creating this situation

If the Leafs want to lean into the Florida style, go for it! But change the core. If for some reason the Leafs still want to run the core 4, get a coach who works for that and find puck moving defenseman. But pick a lane

 

[The Hockey Tonk Man]

No, the Leafs won't miss the playoffs.

 

[authentic]

Berube's strategies are all wrong for this roster and he appears to be unable to adapt accordingly.



Wouldn't bet on it. I expect Marner to re-sign to a 4yr 13.25AAV contract this summer and Tavares as well. Probably along the lines to a 3yr 7AAV deal. Afterwards they'll just reshuffle the deck chairs.

Honestly this has been every Leafs coach ever though

 

[Antropovsky]

Nope, you know that they will make some tweak in the off-season that the media will blow out of proportion to hype up the fanbase and the results will be the exact same in May 2026.

First it's assistant coaches
Then it's the GM Dubas
Then it's the coach Keefe and captaincy change
Then it's Shanahan?
....Then Nylander, Matthews and Marner have nmc and can't be touched.
....Then it's gonna be alot harder to get rid of these guys than the Muskoka 5.

 

[ffh]

Leafs out
Habs and senators in
The lord moves in mysterious ways

 

[Pyrophorus]

Missing the playoffs, will force Pelley's hand.

 

[TLEH]

They've got 2 games in hand and a 9 point lead on the Rangers. or just a 10 game lead on the Canadiens, with 16 games to go. They're not missing the playoffs bare a historical collapse. They're closer to winning the Atlantic than missing the playoffs.

 

[TheNewEra]

Not enough games left for the leafs to miss the playoffs

there is a possibility that they slip into the wild card spot which would create enough chaos

 

[WarriorofTime]

they're like 99 % to make postseason, it's not a serious possibility worth discussing

 

[beowulf]

Would have to have one hell of a collapse for that to happen. They are what 9-10 points above the last wild card team with 16 games to go? Ya would be a massive collapse for that to happen.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Even Leafs haters wouldn't want them to miss the playoffs , the whole fun/shtick is the post season

 

[bossram]

They're not gonna miss. But they are even more of a paper tiger than past Leafs iterations. The Berube version of this club is worse than any team that Keefe ran. Ottawa is a more dangerous club for the playoffs.

 

[Turin]

No. They are however not good this year and Berube was a terrible fit.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

That OP video was tough to watch. Is that what he's always like?

 

[MXD]

It would take some crazy shit like Montreal sweeping the Sens, the Sens sweeping the Blue Jackets, the Devils holding on and the Rangers do great to finish the season, so as 4 teams make it on each side.

Like, it would take a combination of things that can absolutely happen, but with the odds of all of them happening being very low.

 

[BHD]

Berube is the third coach for this group, and it's the same song and dance. Yes, he's more of a motivator than a tactician. However, the players continue to make embarssing plays, under perform, or just not show up. It happened under Babcock, it happned under Keefe, and it's happening under Berube. At some point, brass has to adress the core.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Ha! I wish.

Leafs fans are addicted to drama. Grow up.

 

[Summer Rose]

That OP video was tough to watch. Is that what he's always like?

Pretty much. It's Steve Dangle, who's more than just a little bit notorious. I think he's funny in small doses for the shock value, but that's just me. If I watched a Steve Dangle video every day I'd probably get sick of him though.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

I’d love them to miss, but they aren’t lol. They have 81 points and could virtually sleepwalk through their remaining schedule to make it.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Missing the playoffs, will force Pelley's hand.

Force his hand to do what?

Matthews, overpaid + NMC.
Nylander, overpaid + NMC.
Rielly, overpaid + NMC.

Tavares and Marner are UFAs. You let them go and replace them with more overpaid UFAs? Odds are, especially with how poorly managed this team is, that this will make the team worse. Which shouldn't be a problem, because then at least we can move on, but it's a problem for the ownership who wants to milk all the yuppies for as long as they can.

The writing has been on the wall for at least half a decade, but yet here we are. What has changed in the year that Pelley has had his job? The same thing that has changed in the last 8 years. Nothing.

No changes will be made because they quite literally have no reasonable ability to improve the team.

And people will with a straight face tell you that this torture is the greatest era of Leafs ever.

 

[NYRfan85]

The Leafs aren't missing the playoffs, but I very well can see them dropping to a WC spot with the way Ottawa's been playing.

 

[FerrisRox]

They beat Tampa in a round before

With Hedman playing heavily hobbled and Cernak knocked out of the series after taking an elbow to the head from Bunting in a 7-3 blowout in Game One.

Hedman and Cernak are the Lightning's two top defensive defensman. Cernak is a shutdown guy and would have played an enormous role in that series.

Pressing a rookie 6th round draft pick in Nick Perbix into a big role in the post-season isn't exactly ideal. With Hedman hobbled and Cernak out the Lightning were nowhere close to the team that had won the Stanley Cup the year before.

I'm not saying they are a bad match up for the Leafs, I'm saying don't like at the Leafs beating them previously as some kind of indicator that they would beat them again because the injuries on the Bolts blueline were an enormous factor in the outcome of that game.