It’s been nearly two months since the Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated from the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Still, the focus on next season continues as the team announced their 2024-25 preseason schedule.
The six games scheduled for Toronto in late September into early October are fewer than the previous two years when fans were forced to watch seven preseason games ahead of the 2022-23 season and eight ahead of the 2023-24 season.
The last time Toronto played six preseason games was ahead of the 2021-22 season, when they played two opponents, the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, going 5-1-0. This is only the second time in the salary cap era that the Maple Leafs will only play six preseason games — which feels crazy!
The Maple Leafs’ preseason will officially kick off on Sunday, September 22nd, at home against the Ottawa Senators, and both teams will close out their home-and-home against each other on Tuesday, September 24th, in Ottawa.
Toronto’s next four games are split between the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings, and similarly to the Senators’ games, they will be home-and-home sets. On Thursday, September 26th (at home) and Saturday, September 28th (in Montreal), the Maple Leafs will take on the Canadiens before closing out their preseason in early October on the 3rd (at home) and 5th (in Detroit) against the Detroit Red Wings.
“Further details including ticketing, broadcast information and the team’s training camp schedule will be released at a later date,” the team announced in their release.
It should be an intriguing offseason for the Maple Leafs leading up to the preseason and the regular season. Over the past two months, the organization has fired Sheldon Keefe, replaced him with Craig Berube, hired an associate coach and an assistant coach, and departed with three assistant coaches. Next fall’s preseason should also see the Maple Leafs give prolonged looks to Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten, the organization’s top two prospects. Minten cracked the opening night roster, and Cowan will be given every opportunity to do the same in 2024-25.
