Toronto must get younger immediately and the 2026 Playoffs make the case louder every night

Though there's been a lot of talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs and their inability to compete this season, there's a lot of credit that needs to be dished out to teams like Montreal and Buffalo; two teams who went from obscurity a few years ago to dominant forces for years to come.

There's a clear veteran group helping to stabilize both teams, but it's the young core that is really starting to show off. Montreal has the likes of Lane Hutson, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Ivan Demidov meanwhile Buffalo holds the likes of Josh Doan, Owen Power, Jack Quinn, and Rasmus Dahlin.

It's something that Keith Pelley never expected to happen against his beloved Maple Leafs (though that's clearly a bit short-sighted) and with Hutson's heroics last night against Tampa Bay and Buffalo taking a 2-1 series lead over the Bruins, there seems to be one constant — it's the young guns setting the tone.

For the Sabres, they have Quinn, Owen Power, Bowen Byram, and Peyton Krebs leading the charge and right now with the atmosphere in Buffalo they are going to be nigh-unstoppable. Combined they have 11 points and when you add Dahlin and Alex Tuch/Tage Thompson into the mix; you can see why Buffalo is so much fun.

Montreal on the other hand is being led by the likes of Slavkofsky and Hutson, who had a blistering OT winner to help push Montreal ahead 2-1:

Hutson was only the 9th defender in Canadiens history to score a playoff OT winner, the last being Jeff Petry against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the shortened COVID-19 season in 2020.

These kids are hungry, and with the ultimate prize at stake then you can bet your bottom dollar they can kick it into extra gear; their youth giving them the engine they need to keep on chugging along.

Which is exactly the philosophy the Maple Leafs need to follow and stop trying to rely on old veterans to get the job done.

For years, the Maple Leafs have always targeted older, experienced vets in order to give them that playoff edge because if they've been there before, it must mean they are reliable. That's not always the case, and when you're targeting guys like Ryan O'Reilly, Luke Schenn, and Max Pacioretty to give you that jolt — that's a tough ask.

Instead of relying on names like Nick Robertson and Tyler Bertuzzi to get them through it was up to O'Reilly, Noel Acciari, and Mark Giordano to lead the charge and while they were all decent enough, they aren't the needle movers Toronto had to have.

Toronto right now is a team that has seven players slated to be in the lineup next year who are 30 years of age or older, and that includes the majority of their defensive group. Right now the team is relying on Olive Ekman-Larsson to carry the load and he's 34.

Chris Tanev is 36, Morgan Rielly is 31, Jake McCabe is 32, and Brandon Carlo while still a bit young is also 29 so he's creeping up there.

You're also locked into huge deals with these guys too, so it's almost a priority that Toronto starts enacting some type of youth movement soon. It's also a shame that the team is targeting guys who are still 30+ like Darren Raddysh and Dougie Hamilton.

The average age of the team in general is 29.72 years old, so when the entire group is nearly pushing 30; you need to make some changes.

Right now, Montreal's oldest defender is Mike Matheson at 31, and Buffalo's is Luke Schenn (though after him it's Zach Metsa and Logan Stanley at 27). It's the youth movement driving the success and with the Hutson's and Byram's leading the way, it's clear there's one option.

Time for Toronto to get younger before Father Time eventually catches up to them with no backup plan available.

Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Jason Spezza officially passing on the Maple Leafs GM job proves the franchise requires an absolute alpha