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Former Maple Leaf Frankie Corrado weighs in on team’s season long struggles, doesn’t believe there will be monumental change
Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Mar 11, 2026, 09:45 EDTUpdated: Mar 11, 2026, 09:31 EDT
As the Toronto Maple Leafs season continues to spiral, the questions and rumours only continue to grow about who is going to be around within this organization next season to help try and return this club back to the playoffs. The questions now surround the management, the coaching staff and the players, all of whom have taken responsibility at various points for what has transpired this year.
On Tuesday morning, former Maple Leaf and TSN hockey analyst Frankie Corrado joined Leafs Morning Take with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill to discuss the recent Matthew Knies trade deadline rumours, how he dealt with a lost season in Toronto and what the Maple Leafs need to do to get back on track next season.
During Monday’s Sportsnet’s Real Kyper and Bourne show with Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne, Kypreos speculated that the Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens were in discussions over a potential deal that would have sent the 23-year-old forward to the Habs. The statement came after Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes mentioned missing out on a significant trade during his post-trade deadline press conference.
“Montreal’s looking for that kind of player up front. If you watch them play, you’ll notice there’s a lot of speed and skill, then it feels like there’s quite a few redundancies, especially lower in the lineup,” said Corrado. “If they could add a physical power forward, similar to Juraj Slafkovský, that’s the kind of player they need at some point to withstand the physical toll of playoffs.”
The last time the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs was during the 2015-16 season, when the team finished 29-42-11. In 39 games that season, Corrado posted one goal and five assists as the Maple Leafs finished last place in the NHL, earning the right to select Auston Matthews. Corrado touched on the differences between that season and what he has seen throughout the course of 2025-26.
“I feel like I’ve been in this situation where I’ve been on a bad team. We finished last place, but the thing was, we had all these young guys that were hungry to make the team the next year. Whether it was Zach Hyman, Kasperi Kapanen or William Nylander, and the list goes on, we had guys that knew they had to show something that year,” Corrado said. “This year, they have guys that were here last year, guys on two-to-three-year deals making $3 million. They always talk about being professional, that’s great, win a game being a professional. It was very different for us.”
As for the offseason, many Maple Leafs fans are calling for changes all throughout the organization. Corrado isn’t totally sure that a mass exodus is coming prior to the puck dropping on the 2026-27 season.
“I’m guessing that we will not see the monumental change that maybe some people would want to see. That’s just my hunch that they’ll try and chalk it up to, it was just a bad season from the get-go, and maybe we’ll try and figure this thing out together,” Corrado said. “It feels like if you do a coach and GM change all in one year, there’s lots of moving parts in transitions. You’re doing a longer evaluation period and a shorter execution period, and I don’t know if that helps the team right away.”
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