Worry-O-Meter for the Toronto Maple Leafs

If you're a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, chances are you were born worrying.

This team, all of its ups and downs, curses, and constant discourse, has had you in the front row of a roller coaster with your hands up for years.

Maybe you thought the Mitch Marner saga was the last of it. Finally, the team could move on from the "Core Four" era and build a new identity—one with a little less pressure and a little more drama.

Silly you.

That would have required a relatively strong start to the first season without Marner. Instead, the Leafs are at a confusing 5-5-1 in their first 11 games of 2025-26.

There have been some bright moments, such as Matthew Knies stepping up and improving as the season has gone on, but there have been more bad than good.

The power play ranks in the bottom five leaguewide. Auston Matthews has had a slow start by his own standards, and the goaltending has been nothing to write home about.

Still, it has only been 11 games, and there are a few interesting—and potentially justifiable—explanations for Toronto's poor start to the season.

Should you worry about the Leafs yet, or should you sit back and enjoy the Toronto Blue Jays while the hockey team across the way figures it out?

Let's dive deeper into Toronto's early woes with the Worry-O-Meter.

I know we're all sick of talking about Marner and the Maple Leafs at this point, but if the team wanted to put the discourse to rest, a 5-5-1 start with some concerning losses against questionable opponents wasn't the way to do it.

You have to put some of Toronto's early struggles on losing Marner, considering the way these games have gone. Power-play production has plummeted, former power-play unit-mate and often linemate Matthews' season-long point projections look bleak, and the juice to offensively edge out opponents just hasn't been there.

Meanwhile, Vegas sits atop the Pacific at 6-3-1. Marner's got 12 points in 10 games and a plus-five rating.

Are any of these stats worth handwringing over, less than 20 games into the season? Not quite, but they do show how a player like Marner can account for an extra game or two won here and there.

They also show how losing a player like the 28-year-old and not yet finding his replacement can result in an extra game or two lost here and there.

Last offseason's free-agency market was bleak, and the lack of moves around the league reflected that, so at least there's hope for a trade deadline blockbuster.

Worry-O-Meter: 6/10

Auston Matthews is on a 37-goal pace with five tallies in 11 games to start the season. This would be a positive thing for all but maybe 10 players in the league—unfortunately, Matthews is one of those 10.

Also consider two of those five goals have been too little, too late empty-netters, and you start to worry about the Leafs captain.

Injuries kept him sidelined for a significant time last season, but he struggled to return to form. He ended the regular season with a career-low 33 goals, and you sort of brushed it off because 1) It made sense in light of the injuries, and 2) William Nylander and Marner were picking up the slack and then some.

Perhaps Matthews would brush it off, recover in the offseason, and return to the form that saw him scoring 69 goals in 2023-24.

There has never been a better time for Matthews to emerge, as the Leafs navigate life without Marner and try to bolster their brutal power play. Instead, he's got just one power-play point and hasn't yet been able to steal a game or two for his squad.

It's early in a long campaign, and the Leafs have historically scored a ton in the regular season with not much to show for it during the playoffs.

Maybe Matthews is trying to lead by example defensively and let the goals come later, but his absence on the scoresheet—especially when it matters—has cost Toronto some early games.

Worry-O-Meter: 7.5/10

Having a Knies here, an Easton Cowen there, and a Simon Benoit over there was all good and dandy when Marner was around to complete the top of the puzzle—and when all aforementioned players were crushing it.

However, the lack of room for error without Marner, combined with a slew of injuries all over the Toronto roster, has exposed this depth situation to be thinner than we thought.

Knies and Benoit have been stepping up as of late, but it still hasn't been enough to push the Leafs past a mediocre record.

Toronto acquired Nicolas Roy as a depth center in the Marner trade, and he had been an above-average depth piece on the Golden Knights. He's not generating enough shots or pulling his puck-possession weight enough to earn a third-line center role.

It's extremely early, and younger depth players often take some time to cook, but Cowen has zero goals and just three points in eight games, while Bobby McMann has a goal and three points in 11 games.

Just like Matthews needs to pull his weight, the depth as a whole—on both ends of the ice—has to step it up for this to work.

Worry-O-Meter: 4/10

Leafs No. 1 goaltender Joseph Woll had been on a personal leave of absence since the start of the season, but he's returned to the team and is working up to game shape.

So, as much as Toronto's goaltending situation has been a concern, things have a decent chance of turning around upon Woll's return to the net.

Still, Anthony Stolarz has been struggling to handle a larger load. According to MoneyPuck.com, he ranks No. 57 among active goalies with -3.2 goals saved above expected. He's 3-4-1, with a 3.27 goals against average and a .886 save percentage.

De facto backup Cayden Primeau has fared even worse, with a 4.30 goals against average and a .838 save percentage in three games.

Given Woll is back with the team and getting his reps in to return, we've probably got some bigger fish to fry in the land of Leafs woes.

Worry-O-Meter: 2.5/10

Early-season power plays across the league can feel wonky each year as new units emerge and new players join each team, but the Leafs' early issues on the man advantage far surpass the growing pains thing.

In Wednesday's 6-3 loss to the Blue Jackets, for instance, the Leafs went 0-2 on the power play with just one shot on net. That brings the season total to a 13.8 conversion rate, fourth-worst in the NHL.

Nylander's been in and out of the lineup with a lingering lower-body injury, which is a huge blow for a team already missing Marner's offensive output.

We've also seen some better looks from Knies' net-front recently, so things could be looking up in that desperately needed area.

However, if this apparent lack of urgency from the rest of the power play persists, the man advantage could end up a huge red flag for the Leafs.

Worry-O-Meter: 3.4/10

Time to Worry?: It's not just about the Leafs dropping six of their first 11 games; it's about how they're losing.

The power play seems disjointed and has barely produced a shot some nights, the goaltending has fallen apart without Woll, and Matthews is on pace for a down season without Marner.

Still, it's only the first 11 games, and I'm trying to figure it out without a 100-point player. Woll is set to return. Steven Lorentz, Nylander, Woll, Tanev, Scott Laughton, and Calle Järnkrok are all either currently dealing with injury or have missed time due to injury. All of this, and Toronto is still third in the Atlantic.

Further, the Leafs have been no stranger to the trade deadline these past few years, and you get the sense they will be willing to make a serious move or two if these woes persist.

Worry-O-Meter: 5/10