The Maple Leafs are built around their Core Four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares with Morgan Reilly anchoring the defense.

Combined, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers occupied first place in the Atlantic Division for 174 of 178 game days during the 2024-25 season, so it stands to reason that the two teams would be facing off in the Eastern Conference Second Round.

Ekman-Larsson's NHL career hit rock bottom in 2023. His emergence out of it is a story of injuries, self-discovery and redemption.