The Maple Leafs are about to break a rule the NHL has lived by for decades

Normally a bad team doesn't compete for the playoffs right away but that's what the Maple Leafs could do in 2026-27 and break an unwritten rule in the NHL.

In 2025-26, the Maple Leafs were bad; let's not beat around the bush. Not only could they not keep the puck out of their net, but the defence wasted, the offensive game fell off a cliff, and besides Easton Cowan's debut season and the emergence of Matthew Knies as a bonafide star, there wasn't much to love.

It led to the team selling at the deadline and it looked like a full on retool or even rebuild was in the works. That means a lot more losing in the hopes they can get enough assets and build the foundation for contention in the next five or so years.

Gavin McKenna is confident that Toronto can compete and honestly, he's not too far off

But it's not too often you see a team finish last in the division suddenly become a contender the next year, but the Maple Leafs are no ordinary team. Somehow lucking out with the first overall pick in this year's draft, they have a chance to bring in Gavin McKenna and add a generational talent to the mix.

McKenna seems confident that not only can he have a good start to his career but that the Maple Leafs are a team that isn't exactly too far away from contending either:

If that was the case I'd be pretty pumped. The situation the Leafs are in right now, it's pretty crazy they got the first overall pick, a team who's probably fighting for playoffs next year. I'd be pretty fortunate to go there.

Probably fighting for the playoffs is something fans didn't necessarily expect, and it goes to show you that with the right front office and proper due diligence - this team can certainly contend in 2026-27.

This is still a lineup that has William Nylander, Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews, Easton Cowan, John Tavares, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jake McCabe, Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll.

If you add in some better pieces like Darren Raddysh, Alex Tuch, and Vince Dunn while getting contributions from some depth guys from the AHL like Luke Haymes and Bo Groulx or even sign AJ Greer; then suddenly this lineup can hang with the best.

Toronto being competitive right away breaks one of the NHL's oldest unwritten rules

Now there isn't actually anything in the NHL rulebook that says a team who was bad one season can't be competitive the next, but not when you have a team as dysfunctional as Toronto was.

This was a team who gave up on their coach, had their captain tear his knee, couldn't stay healthy, had their best shutdown defender play 11 games and had no future in sight with Boston likely getting their first-round pick.

But then suddenly the dominos started to fall.

Brad Treliving was fired and replaced with John Chayka and Mats Sundin, and then it wasn't long before Craig Berube was also given the boot. Then the team lucked out with the first overall pick and suddenly have a generational talent on their hands.

They also have a front office not afraid of taking risks, and there's a few free agents out there who could be key players in Toronto being in the postseason next year so we could see a splash or two made on July 1 - especially with a fair bit of cap space.

So now they went from a dysfunctional team with no real future to one with a generational talent, a front office who actually cares about roster construction, with a healthy lineup only two seasons removed from a division title; and a heck of a lot of redemption on their minds.

That's not how Gary Bettman's NHL is built. Toronto shouldn't be able to have a superstar lineup, get a generational talent, then find themselves contenders.

Considering they've repeatedly gotten the short end of the stick with the league in general, it's nice to see Toronto finally get the upper hand for once.

Also read on Hockey Patrol :
The Maple Leafs coaching search is down to five names