The 2014–15 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the 98th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on November 22, 1917.[2] 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.
2014–15 Toronto Maple Leafs | |
---|---|
Division | 7th Atlantic |
Conference | 15th Eastern |
2014–15 record | 30–44–8 |
Home record | 22–17–2 |
Road record | 8–27–6 |
Goals for | 211 |
Goals against | 262 |
Team information | |
General manager | Dave Nonis |
Coach | Randy Carlyle (Oct.–Jan.) Peter Horachek (interim, Jan.–Apr.) |
Captain | Dion Phaneuf |
Alternate captains | Joffrey Lupul Stephane Robidas[a] |
Arena | Air Canada Centre |
Average attendance | 19,076 (94.1%)[1] (36 games) |
Team leaders | |
Goals | James van Riemsdyk (27) |
Assists | Phil Kessel (36) |
Points | Phil Kessel (61) |
Penalty minutes | Dion Phaneuf (108) |
Plus/minus | Daniel Winnik (+14) |
Wins | Jonathan Bernier (21) |
Goals against average | Jonathan Bernier (2.87) |
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.[3] 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.[4][5][6][7] Later in the day, strength and conditioning coach Anthony Belzawas 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.[8]
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.[9]
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.[10]
Many players were signed, lost and traded during free agency. See Transactions for a list of lost and acquired players.
Standings
Pos | Team | 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 |
Pos | Div | Team | 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 | Western Conference | ||||||||||||||||
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Atlantic Division | Metropolitan Division | Central Division | Pacific Division | ||||||||||||||
Team | Home | Away | Team | Home | 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 | 4–8–3 | 4–7–1 | 3–7–2 | 4–3–0 | 1–5–1 | 5–2–0 | 0–7–0 | |||||||||
Division | 13–13–4 | 7–14–3 | 5–8–1 | 5–9–0 | |||||||||||||
Conference | 20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5) | 10–17–1 (Home: 9–5–0; Away: 1–12–1) | |||||||||||||||
Overall | 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[11] |
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[12] |
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[13] |
Schedule and results
Pre-season
2014 Pre-Season Game Log: 5–2–1 (Home: 3–0–1 ; Road: 2–2–0) | |||||||||
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# | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | OT | Decision | Attendance | Record | Recap |
1[a] | September 22 | Toronto | 3–2 | Philadelphia | SO | Heeter | 1–0–0 | Recap | |
2 | September 23 | Philadelphia | 0–4 | Toronto | Bernier | 15,190 | 2–0–0 | Recap | |
3 | September 24 | Ottawa | 4–3 | Toronto | SO | Gibson | 17,939 | 2–0–1 | Recap |
4 | September 24 | Toronto | 2–3 | Ottawa | Heeter | 15,865 | 2–1–1 | Recap | |
5 | September 26 | Toronto | 6–4 | Buffalo | Reimer | 18,942 | 3–1–1 | Recap | |
6 | September 28 | Buffalo | 2–3 | Toronto | SO | Bernier | 17,249 | 4–1–1 | Recap |
7 | September 29 | Toronto | 0–3 | Detroit | Reimer | 14,754 | 4–2–1 | Recap | |
8 | October 3 | Detroit | 1–5 | Toronto | Bernier | 18,020 | 5–2–1 | Recap | |
Notes: |
Regular season
2014–15 Game Log: 30–44–8, 68 points (Home: 22–17–2 ; Road: 8–27–6) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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[14]
Skaters
Goaltenders
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
Milestones
Transactions
The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 2014–15 season.
Trades
Date | Details | |
---|---|---|
June 28, 2014 [16] | To St. Louis Blues Carl Gunnarsson Calgary's 4th-round pick in 2014 (Ville Husso) | To Toronto Maple Leafs Roman Polak |
July 1, 2014 [17] | To Columbus Blue Jackets Jerry D'Amigo Conditional 7th-round pick in 2015 | To Toronto Maple Leafs Matt Frattin |
February 6, 2015 [18] | To Tampa Bay Lightning David Broll Carter Ashton | To Toronto Maple Leafs Conditional 7th-round pick in 2016 |
February 15, 2015 [19] | To Nashville Predators Cody Franson Mike Santorelli | To Toronto Maple Leafs Olli Jokinen Brendan Leipsic 1st-round pick in 2015 |
February 25, 2015 [20] | To Pittsburgh Penguins Daniel Winnik | To Toronto Maple Leafs Zach Sill 4th-round pick in 2015 2nd-round pick in 2016 |
February 26, 2015 [21] | To Chicago Blackhawks Spencer Abbott | To Toronto Maple Leafs T. J. Brennan |
February 26, 2015 [22] | To Columbus Blue Jackets David Clarkson | To Toronto Maple Leafs Nathan Horton |
March 2, 2015 [23] | To St. Louis Blues Olli Jokinen | To Toronto Maple Leafs Joakim Lindstrom Conditional 6th-round pick in 2016 |
March 2, 2015 [24] | To Anaheim Ducks Korbinian Holzer | To Toronto Maple Leafs Eric Brewer 5th-round pick in 2016 |
June 19, 2015 [25] | To Florida Panthers Greg McKegg | To Toronto Maple Leafs Zach Hyman Conditional 7th-round pick in 2017 |
Free agents lost
Date | Player | New team | Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) | Ref |
July 1, 2014 | T. J. Brennan | New York Islanders | 1 year, $600,000 | [33] |
July 1, 2014 | Dave Bolland | Florida Panthers | 5 years, $27.5 million | [34] |
July 1, 2014 | Mason Raymond | Calgary Flames | 3 years, $9.5 million | [35] |
July 1, 2014 | Drew MacIntyre | Carolina Hurricanes | 1 year, $600,000 | [36] |
July 2, 2014 | Nikolai Kulemin | New York Islanders | 4 years, $16.75 million | [37] |
July 2, 2014 | Jay McClement | Carolina Hurricanes | 1 year, $1 million | [38] |
July 3, 2014 | Tim Gleason | Carolina Hurricanes | 1 year, $1.2 million | [39] |
July 15, 2014 | Paul Ranger | Geneve-Servette HC | 2 years | [40] |
Lost via waivers
Player | New team | Date claimed off waivers |
---|
Player signings
Date | Player | Contract terms (in U.S. dollars) | Ref |
July 3, 2014 | Troy Bodie | 1 year, $600,000 | [27] |
July 3, 2014 | Antoine Bibeau | 3-year, $1.965 million entry level contract | [43] |
July 10, 2014 | Trevor Smith | 1 year, $550,000 | [44] |
July 10, 2014 | Rinat Valiev | 3-year, $2,427,500 entry level contract | [44] |
July 11, 2014 | Jamie Devane | 2 years, $1.15 million | [45] |
July 16, 2014 | Peter Holland | 2 years, $1.55 million | [46] |
July 16, 2014 | Carter Ashton | 1 year, $850,500 | [47] |
July 21, 2014 | Cody Franson | 1 year, $3.3 million | [48] |
July 25, 2014 | James Reimer | 2 years, $4.6 million | [49] |
July 29, 2014 | Jake Gardiner | 5 years, $20.25 million | [50] |
August 18, 2014 | William Nylander | 3-year, entry-level contract | [51] |
September 9, 2014 | Spencer Abbott | 1 year | [52] |
May 25, 2015 | Sam Carrick | 1 year | [53] |
June 4, 2015 | Andreas Johnsson | 3 years, entry-level contract | [54] |
June 4, 2015 | T. J. Brennan | 1 year | [54] |
June 23, 2015 | Petter Granberg | 1 year | [55] |
June 23, 2015 | Tim Erixon | 1 year | [55] |
June 23, 2015 | Zach Hyman | 2 years, entry-level contract | [55] |
Other
Name | Date | Details |
---|---|---|
Peter Horachek[56] | July 11, 2014 | Named as an Assistant Coach |
Steve Spott[56] | July 11, 2014 | Named as an Assistant Coach |
Kyle Dubas[57] | July 22, 2014 | Named as an Assistant General Manager |
Despite the Leafs usual loyal fan base, there have been several occurrences in the 2014–15 season where fans have thrown Leafs jerseys onto the ice to show disgust for horrid team performance. It has been said that this action is "classless" and "disrespectful" by many, as well as dangerous for players who have the potential to get hurt from skating over top of the jerseys. Fans who take part in this action can be faced with a hefty fine as well as being banned from all Air Canada Centre events for one year.[58]
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[a] | 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).[59] 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.[60]
- 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).[61] 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.[62]