Ranking the Worst Maple Leafs Team of All Time

The Toronto Maple Leafs have regularly ranked among the league leaders in Stanley Cup odds over the past decade, but the 2025-26 season has not gone according to plan for the Buds.

Toronto is on pace to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16, which coincidentally was one of the franchise’s worst seasons.

Keep reading for my rankings of the worst Maple Leafs teams of all time.

Worst Maple Leafs Seasons in Team History

5. 2014-15: 30-44-8 (68 points)

The Maple Leafs finally turned the page in 2016 when they drafted Auston Matthews first overall, but there were several years of pain leading up to that moment.

The 2014-15 campaign was especially hard to watch for Leafs fans. The team was starved for talent, with Phil Kessel finishing as the club’s top scorer with only 61 points.

The team was outplayed almost every night, which led management to fire head coach Randy Carlyle and replace him with interim bench boss Peter Horachek. Toronto went 9-28-5 with Horachek behind the bench for a winning percentage of just over 20%.

4. 2009-10: 30-38-14 (74 points)

Following the Ballard years, the Maple Leafs found some success throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, led by franchise legends like Mats Sundin and head coach Pat Quinn.

That quickly changed in 2009-10, however, when Toronto finished 29th overall and recorded its worst record in over a decade.

To make matters worse, the Leafs didn’t even have their own first-round pick in 2010 following that brutal season. That was the pick they traded away to the Bruins, along with Tuukka Rask, in exchange for Phil Kessel. 

Boston selected Tyler Seguin second overall, and he won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins the next season.

3. 1957-58: 21-38-11 (53 points)

Pain and misery aren’t new experiences for Leafs fans – those feelings go way back to the 1950s.

Toronto finished last among the Original Six teams, missing the playoffs for two straight seasons for the first time since the 1920s.

The only bright spot was that Frank Mahovlich won the Calder Trophy over Chicago’s Bobby Hull as the NHL’s top rookie.

2. 1987-88: 21-49-10 (51 points)

You could make a case for almost any season in the 1980s as one of the worst in Maple Leafs history, but 1987-88 was another one to forget for Toronto.

Despite finishing above just one team in the overall standings and going 4-16 over the final 20 games, Toronto somehow qualified for the playoffs.

Unsurprisingly, the Maple Leafs were ousted by the Red Wings in six games.

1. 1984-85: 20-52-8 (48 points)

The 1980s marked a dark period in Maple Leafs history, infamously known as the “Ballard years.” 

Majority owner Harold Ballard was renowned for criticizing and generally mismanaging his team, which led to poor results on the ice. In fact, the Leafs’ five lowest single-season point totals (in seasons with 70-plus games) all occurred under Ballard in the 1980s.

The 1984-85 campaign was perhaps the worst of all. Toronto finished dead last in the NHL standings with just 48 points and a miserable .300 points percentage.

What’s the Worst Maple Leafs Team in Franchise History?

The worst Maple Leafs team in franchise history was assembled during the 1984-85 season, when the club recorded its lowest single-season point total in a 70-plus-game season.

While the team was terrible on the ice, owner Harold Ballard had plenty of his own issues off the ice, turning the franchise into a laughing stock for the better part of a decade.