Following a slew of bad news, the NHL draft lottery win is a shift in momentum for the Maple Leafs
Since Auston Matthews was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016, the organization had been a model of consistency, making the playoffs each year. But 2025-26 was different, filled with bad news and failures, but the draft lottery win seems like a shift in momentum.
Following a slew of bad news, the NHL draft lottery win is a shift in momentum for the Maple Leafs originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Over the past week or so, the Toronto Maple Leafs have suffered many losses, even if they aren’t participants in the Stanley Cup playoffs this year.
However, all that gloom that shadowed the franchise lately has cleared up following Toronto’s tremendous luck in the draft lottery on Tuesday. The losses could actually span much further than the past week, when you include the fact that the Maple Leafs had a terrible season and missed the playoffs for the first time in nine years, which is the entire duration of the Auston Matthews era in Toronto. But you don’t need to look too far to find all the different indirect knocks that the franchise may have felt in recent history.
It starts when the Buffalo Sabres eliminated the Boston Bruins in six games in the first round. Why is this significant? Well, the Maple Leafs haven’t been able to get the best of the Bruins in the first round of the post-season.
MORE : 5 items Maple Leafs GM John Chayka must address this summer Dating back to 2017-18, Toronto has lost to Boston in the opening round three times, all in Game 7. That total could increase to four times if the 2012-13 post-season is included. So while the Leafs have struggled to beat the B’s in the first round, the Sabres did so in their first playoff campaign since 2010-11.