Maple Leafs penalty kill is 10-for-11: the depth signings are paying off

The Maple Leafs penalty kill, four games in

The Maple Leafs penalty kill has allowed one power-play goal in 11 chances through four games, a 90.9 per cent success rate, and it has been the most reliable piece of Jim Hiller's team so far. The only official power-play goal against came from Steven Stamkos at 7:13 of the first period on Oct. 6, the opening goal in a game Toronto eventually won 5-4 in overtime over Nashville.

That number needs one honest qualifier straight away. Four games is a tiny sample, and ESPN's early table had 90.9 per cent tied for only 17th in the league, because a lot of teams have not been scored on at all yet. Percentages this early are noise.

What is not noise is how the kill has looked. It has been fast, organized and willing to pressure, and it has done that with a group of forwards Chayka assembled largely for this job. LeafsLurker's view: it is the clearest sign yet that the off-season's depth signings were about something specific, and it is the one area Toronto should not touch while it shops for defence.

Special teams by the numbers

Here is where Toronto's two units sat after four games, per StatMuse and ESPN's team pages:

UnitResultRateEarly league rankPower play3 goals on 14 chances21.4%Tied 14thPenalty kill10 kills on 11 chances90.9%Tied 17th

The power play's three goals have come from Easton Cowan against the Islanders, Kirill Marchenko against Ottawa and William Nylander against Nashville. It has also given one back: Emil Heineman's short-handed goal with 5:51 left on Sept. 30 was the only thing that beat Anthony Stolarz in the 2-1 win over New York. We looked at the power play's structural questions, including retrievals, back in camp in our power-play preview.

The kill, by contrast, has not had a bad night. It went perfect through the first three games, and the one goal it allowed came against a Nashville power play with Stamkos, one of the best one-timer shooters of his generation, at the flank.

The Ottawa goal that doesn't count, and why it still matters

There is an asterisk on the perfect start, and it came in the 3-2 loss to Ottawa on Oct. 3. Marchenko took a high-sticking penalty in the third period, the Leafs killed it, and Stephen Halliday buried the rebound of a Fabian Zetterlund shot from the left face-off dot just as the penalty expired. Officially, that is an even-strength goal. Practically, it was the kill failing to get the puck out at the end of a long shift.

We covered that game, and the six posts Toronto hit, in our Senators recap. The lesson for the penalty kill is about endurance. Ottawa's possession during the kill pinned Toronto's unit in its zone, and a kill that cannot clear is a kill that eventually loses a battle at the net.

The other lesson is about volume. After three games, The Hockey News had Toronto tied for the second-most minor penalties in the NHL, with 13. A penalty kill can be very good and still lose games if it has to work five times a night. Hiller's bigger job is to keep it off the ice.

Who is killing penalties for Hiller

The personnel is the story. Toronto's forward penalty killers are mostly players brought in or kept for exactly this role:

PlayerPositionCap hitHow he got hereColton SissonsC$4.25MFree agency from Vegas, July 2026Nick PaulC$3.15MTrade with Tampa Bay, July 1, 2026Teddy BluegerC$2.5MFree agency from Vancouver, July 2026Brandon DuhaimeLW$2.6MFree agency, July 2026Easton CowanRW$900K2023 first-round pick

On the back end, Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe have done the heavy lifting, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Troy Stecher also in the rotation. Sissons led Toronto's forwards in short-handed ice time through three games, 9:17 in total, or a little over three minutes a night, according to The Hockey News.

Cowan's role is the interesting one. Hiller used him on both special-teams units through the preseason and said he wanted to give the 21-year-old a real look on the kill. With Steven Lorentz sent down and Dakota Joshua injured, there was room behind Sissons, Blueger and Duhaime, and Cowan has taken it. A young winger who can kill penalties earns minutes in March that a pure scorer does not.

Cap figures are from our Leafs contracts page. Add Sissons, Paul, Blueger and Duhaime together and Toronto is spending $12.5 million on four forwards whose primary value is defensive. That is a lot of money for a checking group. The kill is where it has to show up.

What the players say is working

The explanations from inside the room, as reported by The Hockey News after the Ottawa game, line up with what the tape shows. Hiller said simply that he thought the unit had "been really good." Duhaime pointed to the aggressiveness the group is playing with and said, "I think we got good personnel." Sissons made the more technical point: a kill that is predictable to its own players can move faster, because everyone knows where the next man will be, and the group has picked its moments to pressure.

That matches what stands out watching it. Toronto's forwards are attacking puck carriers on the half-wall rather than sitting in a passive box, and the defencemen are making quick reads to close shooting lanes. When the puck is loose, the Leafs have found easy clearing routes, which is the part that failed them late against Ottawa.

It is worth noting what has changed behind the bench. Derek Lalonde, who ran the penalty kill under the previous staff, did not return. Hiller's staff is Daniel Alfredsson as associate coach plus assistants John Gruden and Brad Werenka, announced July 7. The club has not said publicly who owns the kill, but whoever it is has the unit playing a more aggressive style than the one Toronto used last season.

LeafsLurker's take: protect the kill

The penalty kill is a strength built on purpose. That has consequences for how Chayka approaches the defence market, which we wrote about today in our piece on the Maple Leafs defence trade question. Any defenceman Toronto adds should be able to kill penalties. Any trade that sends out Tanev, McCabe or one of the four checking forwards to make the money work would be fixing one problem by creating another.

The other takeaway is about the power play. A 21.4 per cent power play is fine. A power play with Auston Matthews, Nylander and Marchenko should be better than fine, and giving up a short-handed goal in the first two games is not a good look for a unit built on skill. If the kill is going to keep games close, the power play has to win some of them.

What's next

The western trip will test the kill properly. Toronto plays in Las Vegas on Oct. 8, in Colorado on Oct. 10 and in Utah on Oct. 13. Vegas, where Sissons played on last spring's run to the Stanley Cup Final, has Jack Eichel and Mark Stone; Colorado has Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Those are power plays that punish a kill that gets stuck in its zone.

The number to watch is not the percentage. It is how many times Toronto is shorthanded. If the Leafs keep taking four or five minors a night, even a good kill will eventually bleed goals. If Hiller can get that number down while the unit keeps its structure, the penalty kill becomes a genuine weapon over 84 games. Follow the Leafs' place in the standings through the trip.