The 2025-26 season was the fourth successive year that the Leafs’ power-play ranking dipped. Starting in 2022-23, when Toronto was fourth-best at 24.1 percent, the numbers have regressed to 23.4 percent (8th), 23.1 percent (11th), before the very mediocre 21.3 percent last year. <\/p>\n
Two key additions during John Chayka’s first offseason as Maple Leafs’ general manager, however, should reverse this negative trend and bring back a prominent weapon to the team’s repertoire. <\/p>\n
Why Raddysh and McKenna Are Key to Reviving the Power Play<\/p>\n
Before the Maple Leafs’ recent negative trend, they had seven consecutive seasons with a top-five ranked power play. In 2025-26, they missed the playmaking abilities of former setup man Mitch Marner. Also, the Leafs lacked a threatening point shot. Matthews and Nylander combined for only twelve power-play goals, their lowest combined total since 2017-18 (ten), when Nazem Kadri and James Van Riemsdyk were scoring the bulk of the team’s power-play goals. <\/p>\n
After trading away goaltender Joseph Woll, Chayka’s next major roster move this offseason was acquiring hard-shooting defenseman Darren Raddysh in a sign-and-trade<\/a> with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Leafs’ GM then chose<\/a> Gavin McKenna and his divine playmaking first overall at the NHL Draft. Those two players should invigorate the Maple Leafs’ power play. <\/p>\n The Leafs have never paired a booming shot from the point with Matthews and Nylander during their time in Toronto. Raddysh had the most 90+ MPH shots of any player in the NHL last season, and it wasn’t close. The “Raddysh Ripper” occurred 97 times. Next closest was Evan “Bouch Bomb” Bouchard with 51. <\/p>\n Safe to say the Leafs got a guy who can absolutely WIRE it \ud83d\ude33\ud83d\udcaa pic.twitter.com\/t9Xf2sIMgA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 BarDown (@BarDown) July 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The threat of a cannon from the blue line should free up both Matthews and Nylander on the flanks for more power-play production. Raddysh also scored ten of his twenty-two goals with the man advantage last year. <\/p>\n It’s no coincidence that the Maple Leafs’ power-play production dropped significantly without Marner. His playmaking and vision, both at even strength and on the power play, weren’t properly replaced. McKenna, even as a rookie, will help in that area. The Leafs will look to take advantage of his hockey IQ and deft passing to give their power play a jolt. <\/p>\n Fixing the power play is not just about changing the strategy; it is about injecting the right personnel. By adding Raddysh’s point shot and pairing it with McKenna’s vision, new head coach Jim Hiller has the tools required to orchestrate a major offensive turnaround. <\/p>\n There will undoubtedly be growing pains as McKenna adjusts to the NHL and Raddysh develops cohesion with his new teammates, but this new-look top unit has a high ceiling. If these two additions can quickly find chemistry with the team’s core stars, a stagnating power play can once again become a lethal weapon that helps the Maple Leafs reclaim a playoff position. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
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