Maple Leafs Benefit from Flames’ Win as Draft Lottery Hopes Brighten

The Toronto Maple Leafs are gearing up to face the Dallas Stars in their final home game of the regular season, and they enter this crucial matchup buoyed by favorable news from the standings. With a record of 32-34-14, the Maple Leafs find themselves in a delicate position that could become advantageous in the upcoming draft lottery.

On Sunday, the Calgary Flames secured a 4-1 victory over the Utah Mammoth, gaining vital points that shifted the NHL standings. With this win, the Flames now sit in the fourth-worst spot in the league with 75 points from 80 games (33-38-9). Their record mirrors that of the third-worst New York Rangers, but the Flames have edged ahead due to their higher number of regulation wins, which serves as the first tiebreaker in the NHL. This development means the Maple Leafs are now just three points shy of both teams, putting them in a position to potentially benefit from the draft lottery.

If both the Flames and Rangers can secure three or more points from their remaining two games, and if the Maple Leafs manage to earn zero or one point in their final two outings, Toronto could find themselves finishing as low as the third-worst team in the NHL. Such a finish holds significant implications, as it would guarantee the Leafs retain their 2026 NHL Draft pick. Under the lottery rules, they would not drop lower than fifth for the draft scheduled for May 5.

The Maple Leafs had traded their 2026 NHL Draft pick conditionally to the Boston Bruins, alongside Fraser Minten, in exchange for veteran defenseman Brandon Carlo. However, should Toronto finish with a top-five selection, they would keep their pick while relinquishing a future unconditional first-rounder instead. Although landing the fourth or fifth-worst record would not secure the pick, finishing third-worst would ensure they maintain it.

As the Rangers prepare to take on the Florida Panthers on Monday, the stakes for Toronto remain high. The Maple Leafs’ games are effectively must-lose at this point; if they were to win both remaining contests, they could potentially rise to as high as the eighth-worst position in the NHL, a scenario that would severely hinder their draft aspirations.

Note: This recap is an independently written summary based on publicly available reporting.