# 2014–15 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 2014–15 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the 98th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on November 22, 1917. This was the second year of the new alignment and schedule format. Toronto again played every team in their own division at least four times, every team in the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference three times, and every team from the Western Conference twice. To complete the 82-game schedule, they played both Ottawa and Detroit five times. Notable in this season was a series of Maple Leafs jerseys being tossed onto the ice at the Air Canada Centre by some fans upset with the team's poor performance, which at times was met with arrests and ejections from the building.
On March 23, 2015, a 13-year long sellout streak ended; only 18,336 fans showed up for the evening match against the Minnesota Wild. Ticket prices for the game were reduced earlier in the day.
Despite remaining in the playoff hunt for the first half of the season, the Leafs finished the season with only 68 points, tied for the fewest earned since the NHL began playing 82 games per season in the 1995-96 season. The day after the regular season ended, April 12, 2015, Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan kept good on his promise of a scorched earth rebuild, as general manager Dave Nonis and interim head coach Peter Horachek were terminated from their positions. Also terminated were coaches Steve Spott, Chris Dennis and Rick St. Croix; director of player development Jim Hughes and director of pro scouting Steve Kasper, as well as Rob Cowie and 18 other scouts. Later in the day, strength and conditioning coach Anthony Belza was fired.
On May 20, 2015, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that Mike Babcock would be the team's new head coach, signing him to an eight-year, $50 million contract.

## Off-season

On May 8, 2014, general manager Dave Nonis announced that Randy Carlyle had accepted a contract extension to continue as head coach through the 2016–17 season, however Carlyle's assistant coaches, Greg Cronin, Scott Gordon and Dave Farrish were all released by the team.
On July 22, 2014, Brendan Shanahan let go former assistant general managers Claude Loiselle and Dave Poulin and named Kyle Dubas as the new assistant general manager. At the time of the hire, Dubas was 28 years old. He was formerly the general manager of the Ontario Hockey League's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Many players were signed, lost and traded during free agency. See Transactions for a list of lost and acquired players.

## Standings

Atlantic Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 50 | 22 | 10 | 43 | 221 | 189 | +32 | 110 |
| 2 | x – Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 50 | 24 | 8 | 47 | 262 | 211 | +51 | 108 |
| 3 | x – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 43 | 25 | 14 | 39 | 235 | 221 | +14 | 100 |
| 4 | x – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 43 | 26 | 13 | 37 | 238 | 215 | +23 | 99 |
| 5 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 41 | 27 | 14 | 37 | 213 | 211 | +2 | 96 |
| 6 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 38 | 29 | 15 | 30 | 206 | 223 | −17 | 91 |
| 7 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 30 | 44 | 8 | 25 | 211 | 262 | −51 | 68 |
| 8 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 23 | 51 | 8 | 15 | 161 | 274 | −113 | 54 |
Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | AT | x – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 43 | 26 | 13 | 37 | 238 | 215 | +23 | 99 |
| 2 | ME | x – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 43 | 27 | 12 | 39 | 221 | 210 | +11 | 98 |
| 3 | AT | Boston Bruins | 82 | 41 | 27 | 14 | 37 | 213 | 211 | +2 | 96 |
| 4 | AT | Florida Panthers | 82 | 38 | 29 | 15 | 30 | 206 | 223 | −17 | 91 |
| 5 | ME | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 42 | 35 | 5 | 33 | 236 | 250 | −14 | 89 |
| 6 | ME | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 33 | 31 | 18 | 30 | 215 | 234 | −19 | 84 |
| 7 | ME | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 27 | 181 | 216 | −35 | 78 |
| 8 | ME | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 30 | 41 | 11 | 25 | 188 | 226 | −38 | 71 |
| 9 | AT | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 30 | 44 | 8 | 25 | 211 | 262 | −51 | 68 |
| 10 | AT | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 23 | 51 | 8 | 15 | 161 | 274 | −113 | 54 |

## Record vs opponents

| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference |
| Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Metropolitan Division | Metropolitan Division | Metropolitan Division | Metropolitan Division | Metropolitan Division | Central Division | Central Division | Central Division | Pacific Division | Pacific Division | Pacific Division |
| Team | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Team | Home | Home | Away | Away | Team | Home | Away | Team | Home | Away |
| Boston | 1–4 | 6–1 | | 4–3* | 1–2* | | Carolina | 1–4 | | 1–4 | 1–2 | Chicago | 3–2 | 0–4 | Anaheim | 6–2 | 0–4 |
| Buffalo | 4–0 | 4–3* | | 2–6 | 3–4 | | Columbus | 5–2 | | 4–1 | 0–5 | Colorado | 3–2* | 3–4* | Arizona | 1–3 | 2–3 |
| Detroit | 1–4 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 0–1* | 2–1* | | New Jersey | 3–5 | | 1–2* | 1–4 | Dallas | 5–3 | 4–0 | Calgary | 4–1 | 3–6 |
| Florida | 2–3 | 1–4 | | 4–6 | 3–2 | | N.Y. Islanders | 3–4* | | 5–2 | 2–3 | Minnesota | 1–2 | 1–3 | Edmonton | 5–1 | 1–4 |
| Montreal | 3–4 | 3–4* | | 1–2* | 0–4 | | N.Y. Rangers | 5–4 | 4–5 | 6–3 | | Nashville | 2–9 | 3–4 | Los Angeles | 4–3* | 0–2 |
| Ottawa | 4–3* | 3–2* | | 5–3 | 3–4 | 3–5 | Philadelphia | 4–7 | 3–2 | 0–1 | | St. Louis | 1–6 | 0–3 | San Jose | 1–4 | 1–3 |
| Tampa Bay | 5–2 | 3–1 | | 2–3 | 2–4 | | Pittsburgh | 2–5 | 1–2 | 3–4* | | Winnipeg | 4–3* | 1–5 | Vancouver | 5–2 | 1–4 |
| | | | | | | | Washington | 6–2 | 2–6 | 0–4 | | | | | | | |
| Records | 9–5–1 | 9–5–1 | 9–5–1 | 4–8–3 | 4–8–3 | 4–8–3 | | 4–7–1 | 4–7–1 | 3–7–2 | 3–7–2 | | 4–3–0 | 1–5–1 | | 5–2–0 | 0–7–0 |
| Division | 13–13–4 | 13–13–4 | 13–13–4 | 13–13–4 | 13–13–4 | 13–13–4 | | 7–14–3 | 7–14–3 | 7–14–3 | 7–14–3 | | 5–8–1 | 5–8–1 | | 5–9–0 | 5–9–0 |
| Conference | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | | 10–17–1 (Home: 9–5–0; Away: 1–12–1) | 10–17–1 (Home: 9–5–0; Away: 1–12–1) | 10–17–1 (Home: 9–5–0; Away: 1–12–1) | 10–17–1 (Home: 9–5–0; Away: 1–12–1) | 10–17–1 (Home: 9–5–0; Away: 1–12–1) |
| Overall | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) | 30–44–8 (Home: 22–17–2; Away: 8–27–6) |
(* game decided in overtime or shoot-out)

## Suspensions/fines

| Player | Explanation | Length | Salary | Date issued |
| Carter Ashton | Violating the terms of the NHL/NHL Players' Association Performance Enhancing Substances Program. | 20 games | $169,185.00 | November 6, 2014 |
| Richard Panik | Diving/Embellishment during NHL Game No. 939 in Washington on Sunday, March 1, 2015, at 10:57 of the second period. | — | $2,000.00 | March 5, 2015 |
| Nazem Kadri | Illegal check to the head of Edmonton Oilers forward Matt Fraser during NHL game No. 1039 in Edmonton on Monday, March 16, 2015, at 10:58 of the third period. | 4 games | $141,463.40 | March 18, 2015 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

2014–15 Game Log: 30–44–8, 68 points (Home: 22–17–2; Road: 8–27–6) :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Overtime statistics

| | Games | Won | Lost | Game Winning Goal Scorers |
| Overtime | 6 | 3 | 3 | Kessel (1), van Riemsdyk (1), Brewer (1) |
| Shootout | 10 | 5 | 5 | |
| | 16 | 8 | 8 | |

## Player statistics

Final stats

### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Phil Kessel | 82 | 25 | 36 | 61 | −34 | 30 |
| James van Riemsdyk | 82 | 27 | 29 | 56 | −33 | 43 |
| Tyler Bozak | 82 | 23 | 26 | 49 | −34 | 44 |
| Nazem Kadri | 73 | 18 | 21 | 39 | −7 | 28 |
| Cody Franson$^‡$ | 55 | 6 | 26 | 32 | −7 | 26 |
| Mike Santorelli$^‡$ | 57 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 7 | 8 |
| Morgan Rielly | 81 | 8 | 21 | 29 | −16 | 14 |
| Dion Phaneuf | 70 | 3 | 26 | 29 | −11 | 108 |
| Leo Komarov | 62 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 0 | 18 |
| Peter Holland | 62 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 0 | 31 |
| Daniel Winnik$^‡$ | 60 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 14 | 23 |
| Jake Gardiner | 79 | 4 | 20 | 24 | −23 | 24 |
| Joffrey Lupul | 55 | 10 | 11 | 21 | −10 | 26 |
| Richard Panik | 76 | 11 | 6 | 17 | −8 | 49 |
| David Clarkson$^‡$ | 58 | 10 | 5 | 15 | −11 | 92 |
| David Booth | 59 | 7 | 6 | 13 | −8 | 25 |
| Roman Polak | 56 | 5 | 4 | 9 | −22 | 48 |
| Stephane Robidas | 52 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 34 |
| Korbinian Holzer$^‡$ | 34 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 25 |
| Eric Brewer$^†$ | 18 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −4 | 12 |
| Trevor Smith | 54 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −9 | 12 |
| Brandon Kozun | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −3 | 6 |
| Joakim Lindstrom$^†$ | 19 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −7 | 4 |
| Stuart Percy | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −4 | 2 |
| Sam Carrick | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| Andrew MacWilliam | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −6 | 12 |
| Tim Erixon$^†$ | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −5 | 6 |
| Josh Leivo | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 4 |
| Casey Bailey | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| T. J. Brennan | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −7 | 9 |
| Zach Sill$^†$ | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 24 |
| Olli Jokinen$^{†‡}$ | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Colton Orr | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Troy Bodie | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Matt Frattin | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Greg McKegg | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Petter Granberg | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Carter Ashton$^‡$ | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Jonathan Bernier | 58 | 55 | 3177 | 21 | 28 | 7 | 152 | 2.87 | 1735 | .912 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| James Reimer | 35 | 27 | 1767 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 93 | 3.16 | 1001 | .907 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Maple Leafs. Stats reflect time with the Maple Leafs only. $^‡$Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Maple Leafs only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Notable achievements
### Awards

Regular Season :
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| P. Kessel | NHL All-Star game selection | January 10, 2015 |

### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| B. Kozun | 1st Career NHL Game 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | October 8, 2014 |
| S. Percy | 1st Career NHL Game 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | October 8, 2014 |
| T. Bozak | 300th Career NHL Game | October 14, 2014 |
| S. Carrick | 1st Career NHL Game | November 1, 2014 |
| D. Winnik | 500th Career NHL Game | November 1, 2014 |
| J. van Riemsdyk | 100th Career NHL Goal | November 1, 2014 |
| J. van Riemsdyk | 100th Career NHL Assist 200th Career NHL Point | November 4, 2014 |
| P. Kessel | 600th Career NHL Game | November 8, 2014 |
| D. Clarkson | 500th Career NHL Game | November 8, 2014 |
| S. Robidas | 900th Career NHL Game | November 12, 2014 |
| D. Phaneuf | 700th Career NHL Game | November 20, 2014 |
| T. Bozak | 200th Career NHL Point | November 20, 2014 |
| N. Kadri | 200th Career NHL Game | December 2, 2014 |
| M. Santorelli | 100th Career NHL Point | December 2, 2014 |
| R. Panik | 100th Career NHL Game | December 13, 2014 |
| M. Rielly | 100th Career NHL Game | December 13, 2014 |
| P. Holland | 100th Career NHL Game | December 20, 2014 |
| S. Robidas | 200th Career NHL Assist | December 20, 2014 |
| J. Lupul | 400th Career NHL Point | December 28, 2014 |
| J. Gardiner | 200th Career NHL Game | December 28, 2014 |
| P. Kessel | 500th Career NHL Point | December 31, 2014 |
| M. Santorelli | 300th Career NHL Game | January 12, 2015 |
| E. Brewer | 1000th Career NHL Game | March 21, 2015 |
| S. Carrick | 1st Career NHL Point | March 21, 2015 |
| C. Bailey | 1st Career NHL Game | March 26, 2015 |
| S. Carrick | 1st Career NHL Goal | March 26, 2015 |
| J. van Riemsdyk | 400th Career NHL Game | March 28, 2015 |
| L. Komarov | 100th Career NHL Game | March 31, 2015 |
| C. Bailey | 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point | April 11, 2015 |
| J. Lindstrom | 150th Career NHL Game | April 11, 2015 |
| D. Phaneuf | 400th Career NHL Point | April 11, 2015 |

## Transactions

The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 2014–15 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 28, 2014 | To St. Louis BluesCarl Gunnarsson Calgary's 4th-round pick in 2014 (Ville Husso) | To Toronto Maple LeafsRoman Polak |
| July 1, 2014 | To Columbus Blue JacketsJerry D'Amigo Conditional 7th-round pick in 2015 | To Toronto Maple LeafsMatt Frattin |
| February 6, 2015 | To Tampa Bay LightningDavid Broll Carter Ashton | To Toronto Maple LeafsConditional 7th-round pick in 2016 |
| February 15, 2015 | To Nashville PredatorsCody Franson Mike Santorelli | To Toronto Maple LeafsOlli Jokinen Brendan Leipsic 1st-round pick in 2015 |
| February 25, 2015 | To Pittsburgh PenguinsDaniel Winnik | To Toronto Maple LeafsZach Sill 4th-round pick in 2015 2nd-round pick in 2016 |
| February 26, 2015 | To Chicago BlackhawksSpencer Abbott | To Toronto Maple LeafsT. J. Brennan |
| February 26, 2015 | To Columbus Blue JacketsDavid Clarkson | To Toronto Maple LeafsNathan Horton |
| March 2, 2015 | To St. Louis BluesOlli Jokinen | To Toronto Maple LeafsJoakim Lindstrom Conditional 6th-round pick in 2016 |
| March 2, 2015 | To Anaheim DucksKorbinian Holzer | To Toronto Maple LeafsEric Brewer 5th-round pick in 2016 |
| June 19, 2015 | To Florida PanthersGreg McKegg | To Toronto Maple LeafsZach Hyman Conditional 7th-round pick in 2017 |

### Player signings

| Date | Player | Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) |
| July 3, 2014 | Troy Bodie | 1 year, $600,000 |
| July 3, 2014 | Antoine Bibeau | 3-year, $1.965 million entry-level contract |
| July 10, 2014 | Trevor Smith | 1 year, $550,000 |
| July 10, 2014 | Rinat Valiev | 3-year, $2,427,500 entry-level contract |
| July 11, 2014 | Jamie Devane | 2 years, $1.15 million |
| July 16, 2014 | Peter Holland | 2 years, $1.55 million |
| July 16, 2014 | Carter Ashton | 1 year, $850,500 |
| July 21, 2014 | Cody Franson | 1 year, $3.3 million |
| July 25, 2014 | James Reimer | 2 years, $4.6 million |
| July 29, 2014 | Jake Gardiner | 5 years, $20.25 million |
| August 18, 2014 | William Nylander | 3-year, entry-level contract |
| September 9, 2014 | Spencer Abbott | 1 year |
| May 25, 2015 | Sam Carrick | 1 year |
| June 4, 2015 | Andreas Johnsson | 3 years, entry-level contract |
| June 4, 2015 | T. J. Brennan | 1 year |
| June 23, 2015 | Petter Granberg | 1 year |
| June 23, 2015 | Tim Erixon | 1 year |
| June 23, 2015 | Zach Hyman | 2 years, entry-level contract |

### Other

| Name | Date | Details |
| Peter Horachek | July 11, 2014 | Named as an Assistant Coach |
| Steve Spott | July 11, 2014 | Named as an Assistant Coach |
| Kyle Dubas | July 22, 2014 | Named as an Assistant General Manager |

## Draft picks

The 2014 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 27–28, 2014 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 8 | William Nylander | (C/LW) | Sweden | Modo Hockey (SHL) |
| 3 | 68 | Rinat Valiev | D | Russia | Kootenay Ice (WHL) |
| 4 | 103 | J. J. Piccinich | RW | United States | Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) |
| 5 | 128 | Dakota Joshua | C | United States | Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL) |
| 6 | 158 | Nolan Vesey | LW | United States | South Shore Kings (USPHL Premier) |
| 7 | 188 | Pierre Engvall | LW | Sweden | Frölunda HC Jr. (SWE) |

### Draft notes

* The Toronto Maple Leafs' second-round pick went to the Anaheim Ducks as the result of a trade on November 16, 2013, that sent Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz to Toronto in exchange for Jesse Blacker, Anaheim's seventh round pick in 2014 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Anaheim would receive a second-round pick in 2014 if Holland played in 25 or more games for the Maple Leafs during the 2013–14 season – was converted on January 18, 2014.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs' fourth-round pick went to the Chicago Blackhawks as the result of a trade June 30, 2013, that sent Dave Bolland to Toronto in exchange for a second-round pick in 2013, Anaheim's fourth round pick in 2013 and this pick.
* $^a$ The Arizona Coyotes' fourth round pick went to the Toronto Maple Leafs as the result of a trade on January 16, 2013, that sent Matthew Lombardi to Phoenix in exchange for this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – If Lombardi did not re-sign with Phoenix for the 2013–14 season, then Toronto would receive a fourth-round pick in 2014 – was converted on August 29, 2013.