Toronto’s 2026-27 outlook starts with a new blue-line weapon and familiar star power around the net. Darren Raddysh arrives after a breakout shooting season, while Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Matthew Knies and William Nylander give the Maple Leafs a deep supply of finishing from the middle of the ice.
Toronto Maple Leafs notebook: Raddysh brings a heavy shot to a loaded attack
Quick facts
- Darren Raddysh joined Toronto from the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 19 in an eight-year sign-and-trade agreement.
- Raddysh recorded 97 shot attempts at 90 mph or faster last season; Toronto’s entire roster had 34.
- He led NHL defensemen with 10 power-play goals and finished with 22 goals overall.
- William Nylander led the Maple Leafs with 79 points in 65 games in 2025-26.
- Matthews missed 22 games last season but remained among the League’s strongest producers in high-danger and mid-range chances.
Raddysh gives Toronto something it badly lacked from the back end: a defenseman who can drive offense with a one-timer and get pucks through from distance. His 97 attempts above 90 mph were nearly twice as many as Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard, who had 51.
Raddysh also produced the second-fastest goal shot in the NHL last season, scoring on a 100.13 mph blast Nov. 28. He had four goals on shots clocked at 95 mph or more, while no other player scored more than two at that speed.
The 30-year-old finished first among NHL defensemen in power-play goals with 10. His 22 goals tied him for third at the position, his 26 power-play points ranked sixth, and his 212 shots on goal were fifth among blue-liners.
His work from the points was especially notable. Raddysh led the League with nine long-range goals and 130 long-range shots on goal, added 10 mid-range goals to tie for fifth among defensemen, and ranked in the 96th percentile for mid-range shots on goal with 45.
He was also in the 91st percentile among defensemen with 11 high-danger shots on goal. His offensive-zone time share was 45.5 percent, good for the 95th percentile at his position, and he covered 35.72 miles on the power play, placing in the 97th percentile.
Toronto’s blue line finished last season with only 132 points, second fewest in the NHL, and 28 goals, fifth fewest. The Leafs have not had a defenseman score five power-play goals in a season since Dion Phaneuf posted seven in 2011-12; Bryan McCabe’s 11 in 2006-07 remains the club’s last double-digit power-play goal season from a defenseman.
The forward group still has its preferred scoring areas. Toronto ranked ninth in the NHL with 85 mid-range goals and 11th with 130 high-danger goals last season.
Tavares supplied much of that net-front work, posting 106 high-danger shots on goal and 22 high-danger goals. He ranked ninth in the League in high-danger shots and 10th in high-danger goals, while his 57 mid-range shots and seven mid-range goals placed him in the 87th and 84th percentiles, respectively, among forwards.
His previous season was just as revealing: in 2024-25, Tavares was fifth in the NHL with 106 high-danger shots on goal. He registered 18 high-danger goals, placing in the 95th percentile among forwards, and scored 13 times from mid-range, good for the 96th percentile.
Matthews lost 22 games to injury last season, but his chance generation remained high-end. He recorded 84 high-danger shots on goal and 85 from mid-range, both in the 96th percentile among forwards, while scoring 14 high-danger goals and 10 mid-range goals.
He also had 20 long-range shots on goal, a 91st-percentile mark. In 2024-25, Matthews landed in the 97th percentile in both high-danger shots on goal, with 83, and mid-range shots, with 94.
Knies continued to add another hard-driving element to Toronto’s attack. He set career highs with 66 points, including 23 goals and 43 assists, in 79 games last season, and added 16 power-play points.
Knies generated 84 high-danger shots on goal, a 96th-percentile result among forwards, and scored 13 high-danger goals. In 2024-25, he had 22 high-danger goals, tied for 10th in the NHL, and 85 high-danger shots, putting him in the 97th percentile.
Jack Roslovic, signed to a two-year deal in the offseason, could get an opportunity alongside Matthews and Knies on the first line. Last season, Roslovic scored 13 high-danger goals and posted 186 skating bursts above 20 mph, ranking in the 83rd and 93rd percentiles among forwards.
Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson offer additional scoring support from the blue line. Rielly scored 11 goals last season, his second-best total after the 20 he recorded in 2018-19, and ranked in the 92nd percentile among defensemen in mid-range goals, high-danger goals and mid-range shots on goal.
Ekman-Larsson had 39 points, with eight goals and 31 assists, his best point total since he put up 44 for the Arizona Coyotes in 2018-19. He ranked in the 88th percentile among defensemen with four mid-range goals, while his 67 long-range shots and 26 mid-range shots were in the 87th and 84th percentiles.
Nylander remains Toronto’s pace-setter after leading the club with 79 points in 65 games in 2025-26. He also led the Maple Leafs with 45 goals in 2024-25, and his shooting and skating metrics stayed near the top of the forward group despite missing 17 games last season.
Nylander’s hardest shot measured 92.61 mph last season, placing him in the 91st percentile among forwards. He generated 50 attempts in the 80-90 mph range, three in the 90-100 mph range, and carried an average shot speed of 58.78 mph.
He reached a top skating speed of 23.48 mph, a 94th-percentile result, and started 43.0 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, placing in the 93rd percentile. Nylander also had 20 high-danger goals, 24 long-range shots on goal and six mid-range goals.
His 2024-25 numbers showed the same profile. Nylander tied for the NHL lead with 19 mid-range goals, added 19 high-danger goals and three long-range goals, and ranked 10th in the League with 101 mid-range shots on goal.
He also produced 68 high-danger shots and 22 long-range shots that season. Nylander ranked ninth among forwards with 109 attempts in the 70-80 mph range, 10th with 62 attempts at 80-90 mph, and finished in the 94th percentile with a hardest shot of 93.82 mph.
SEO Title: Toronto Maple Leafs 2026-27 notebook: Darren Raddysh, Nylander and key EDGE trends
Meta Description: Darren Raddysh’s elite shot speed, Toronto’s high-danger scoring core and William Nylander’s advanced metrics headline the Maple Leafs’ 2026-27 outlook.
