Through 33 games into the 2025-26 regular season, the Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves in uncharted territory from what the management, team and players have come to expect from a team that has made the playoffs for the past nine seasons. The Leafs currently have a 15-13-5 record, one point ahead of the Buffalo Sabres for last place in the Atlantic Division, a far cry from the team that held the Atlantic Division title last season.
A 4-0 loss at the hands of the Washington Capitals on Thursday night, where the Leafs were outshot 29-22, went 0-for-5 on the power play, and seemingly had head coach Craig Berube searching for answers, leaves the team with many questions as they head to the Music City to continue their three-game road trip in Nashville.
The longest-tenured Maple Leaf, Morgan Rielly, stood in front of the media Friday morning after a practice in Washington, before flying out to Nashville, and spoke on how much the belief that this group has is being tested.
“It’s constantly being tested, I think it’s a challenge but it’s extremely important to keep the belief and that mentality that we are able to play with anyone and win on any night,” Rielly said. “I don’t think you can let one game or stretch change that entirely.”
The most frustrating aspect for many fans of the club is the seemingly lack of effort that has been displayed, especially from a team that has some of the most talented players in the world on their roster. Rielly spoke on Friday about what the players can do to bring that compete level up.
“I think there are times when everyone has to look in the mirror and give more,” Rielly said. “That I don’t think is a question of belief, I think that’s just digging in more.”
There have been periods and games that have given fans reason to believe that this team is getting closer to the levels of previous seasons, but those stretches don’t seem to last, and the team reverts back to the habits that have them sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic. Rielly spoke on what that has been like.
“In this league you’re chasing consistency, you want to be consistent as a player and you want to be consistent as a team,” Rielly said. “We haven’t been able to find that which has led to issues.”
The Maple Leafs, to this point, have tried different strategies to try and unlock different ways of scoring on the power play. Whether it’s been five forwards, Rielly on the top unit or Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the team just hasn’t been able to find the same success they had last season when they finished ninth in the National Hockey League at 24.8 percent. Through the team’s first 33 games this season, they find themselves at 14.1 percent good for 31st in the NHL, only ahead of the Calgary Flames. Rielly spoke on the struggles that the team has experienced to this point in 2025-26.
“We’re working through it and it’s not something that we’re not talking about,” Rielly said. “We want to be more consistent and we want to execute and we need to improve on that.”
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