The Toronto Maple Leafs are competing in the second round for the second time in three years. They’ll see the same opponent in the Florida Panthers. This time, the team in the red and black will look a little bit different.

The biggest difference in the two teams, comes in the form of defender Seth Jones, and a player that Leafs Nation knows all too well, former Bruin Brad Marchand. Seth Jones got traded to Florida on February 1st, for goaltender Spencer Knight, and a 2026 conditional first-round pick. Marchand was traded to the Panthers on Trade Deadline day, coming as a shock to hockey fans around the world. The former captain was dealt to the sunshine state for only a second round draft selection in 2027.

Toronto will look different this time around as well. They’ve got a new bench boss in Craig Berube, and their defenders are a lot stronger on the backend as well. Since their duel in 2023, Toronto has added Chris Tanev, Brandon Carlo, and former Panther Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Larsson brings Stanley Cup experience has he won with the Panthers in 2024, so he’ll know a thing or two about the players opposing him this series. Toronto also has former Panther Steven Lorentz being a force on their fourth line, as well as former Panther Anthony Stolarz attempting to lock it down in between the pipes.

“It’s going to be another tough series,” Matthews said. “It’s the defending champs, back-to-back Cup Finals. It’s going to be hard. We’ve got to reset and do our homework and rest up, do what we can, go in there with confidence and go in there with pushback.”

Both teams are better than they were when they clashed two years ago, and with two more years of experience under their belts, they’ll be even tougher to defeat. The Panthers are definetely the better team, but with Toronto’s newfound ability to win in tight contests and win the ugly games, it will be a little harder to make quick work of the Leafs like they did in 2023.

The Panthers are the better hockey club when playing five-on-five. Florida was among the league’s top regular-season teams; they produced a great deal of offensive output and were tight on defense. After a new coach and a new system, the Leafs produced less offensive output than the Panthers but converted more of their opportunities. Although their goal suppression was not as great, Toronto’s goaltender also helped them perform better on the other end of the ice.

Against the Senators, the Leafs tightened up on the defensive end. On Florida’s defensive side, they took away a lot of space from Tampa Bay and didn’t give them much to work with. If Toronto wants to cut through that, they’ll have to work extra hard in order to put a few goals on the board. Now more than ever, they’ll need their stars to be the difference makers.

“You’ve got to play hard between the whistles. I think that’s what you’ve got to focus on. You’ve got to protect your net. You got to do your job. There’s … different scenarios that come up, but we want to play hard between the whistles. We got to be physical. We got to match their physicality, and got to be disciplined.” — Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube on facing the Panthers.

Toronto will be effective if they can continue their strong power play against this Panthers team. Florida shut Tampa Bay down 5-on-5, so if Toronto can execute on their special teams, they’ll have a real shot at knocking down this Panthers team. Otherwisse, Toronto will really need to tighten up on defense and their offence will really need to be strong 5-on-5 to compete with an elite Florida Panthers team.

My Prediction: Maple Leafs in 7 Games.