Maple Leafs’s Longest Active Playoff Streak Faces High Stakes for Postseason Success

The Toronto Maple Leafs have secured a playoff spot for the ninth consecutive season, clinching their spot with a win on April 2, 2025, extending their streak as the longest active playoff streak in the NHL. With this achievement, the Leafs officially stand alone with the longest playoff streak in the league, as their only competition for the record, the Boston Bruins, are on the verge of being eliminated from contention. Both teams were previously tied with eight straight seasons of playoff appearances.

While clinching a playoff spot is a significant accomplishment for any team, the importance of Toronto's streak is somewhat tempered by the ongoing frustration of their postseason failures. Despite reaching the playoffs year after year, the Leafs have only managed to win a single playoff series in the past eight seasons. This stark record highlights the pressure on the team to finally break through in the playoffs, especially as expectations continue to rise.

The Leafs’ regular-season success has been consistent over the last several years, with the team posting the 15th-most playoff wins and the 15th-most playoff games played since the 2016-17 season. However, the number of opportunities squandered by the franchise over these years is impossible to ignore. For Leafs fans, this ongoing playoff presence feels like both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, they can take solace in the fact that their team is regularly in the postseason, which contrasts with the 10 out of 11 years they missed the playoffs from 2005-06 to 2015-16. But on the other hand, the repeated early exits have led to increasing frustration as the years roll on.

With this year marking their ninth consecutive playoff appearance, the pressure has never been higher. If Toronto fails to advance past the first or second round this year, it will likely mark the end of the line for the current core group. There will be no more moral victories or patience from the fanbase. No more press conferences from management talking about "learning experiences" or "building for the future." The time for excuses is over. The team has already changed coaches and management over the past few years, and the roster is largely intact, so the burden now falls on the players to deliver in the postseason.

For Leafs fans, anything less than significant success in the playoffs—at the very least, a deep run into the second or third round—will be seen as a failure. Should the Leafs fall short, it could lead to serious roster changes. With big names like Mitch Marner and John Tavares on the roster, the fanbase may be ready to part ways with any player if it means improving the team for the future. The hope that things will improve if the same core is retained for another season is fading, and change may be inevitable if another playoff disappointment occurs.

The stakes are incredibly high this spring. While the Leafs may finish with a top spot in the competitive Atlantic Division, the fallout from a first-round loss to teams like the Ottawa Senators or Montreal Canadiens could be catastrophic. Even a loss in the second round, especially if they are overwhelmed by teams like the Florida Panthers or Tampa Bay Lightning, would reignite the frustration and anger among the fanbase. The pressure to succeed in the playoffs could not be higher, and the consequences of failure would likely be severe.

At the same time, there are some signs of hope. The Leafs have shown they can play a more gritty, playoff-style game this season. Their ability to grind out wins, even in tough situations, has been encouraging. But it’s all for naught if they don’t carry that momentum into the postseason. Toronto has set itself up for a great regular season, but that won’t matter if they can’t deliver when it counts most.

In short, while extending the longest active playoff streak and potentially winning their division for the first time since 1999-2000 will be nice achievements, they will feel hollow unless the Leafs can make a deep playoff run. The long years of regular-season success must now translate into something more meaningful, or the franchise will continue to face the same cycle of disappointment, frustration, and calls for change. The time for the Leafs to prove themselves is now.