The Buffalo Sabres are looking to do better this season than their 2025-26 season, but that will take a significant step forward, as they finished first in the Atlantic Division in the regular-season, and beat the Boston Bruins in Round 1 of their Stanley Cup playoff series before losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round.

And here at TheHockeyNews.com, as part of an off-season series of articles, we’re focusing on the Sabres’ Eastern Conference opponents in a series called “Know Your Enemy”. In these files, we’re examining how Buffalo fared against every East team last year, and how they’re likely to do against those teams this season. And in this penultimate file in the series, we’re spotlighting the Toronto Maple Leafs.

No team made more changes than the Maple Leafs did this summer, restocking their entire third and fourth lines of forwards, and adding 2026 No. 1 overall draft pick Gavin McKenna and former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh and longtime Florida Panthers star goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Here’s this columnist’s personal point of view on how the Sabres will fare against Toronto this season:

NEW MAPLE LEAFS PLAYERS: Gavin McKenna (LW), Sergei Bobrovsky (G), Darren Raddysh (D), John Chayka (GM), Jim Hiller (coach), Jack Roslovic (RW), Colton Sissons (C), Brandon Duhaime (LW), Nick Paul (LW), Teddy Blueger (C), Zach MacEwen (RW), Emil Andrae (D) Nick Blankenburg (D)

2025-26 SERIES: Sabres 3-0-1, Maple Leafs 1-2-1

2026-27 GAMES AGAINST EACH OTHER: October 15 at Toronto; February 27 at Buffalo; March 25 at Buffalo; April 3 at Toronto

CAN THE SABRES BEAT THIS TEAM? The Sabres didn’t lose to the Maple Leafs in regulation time last season – nor should they have, as Toronto completely cratered as one of the NHL’s worst teams. And by the time Buffalo took on the Leafs for their final game in mid-March, the Buds were a shell of themselves.

That said, we can’t help but be bullish on the changes Maple Leafs GM John Chayka has made – beginning with the most important position, which is in net. We get it – Bobrovsky had a sub-par season with the Panthers last year, and he’s now 38 years old. So if his game falls off, it could get ugly in Leafs Land. However, if the Leafs’ defense corps gets the anticipated bump from the return of vital blueliner Chris Tanev, Bobrovsky could wind up giving Toronto better netminding than the Sabres have.

Meanwhile, star rookie McKenna has shown flashes of his superior skill in limited pre-season action, and if he gives the Leafs’ second line a jolt – and really, a McKenna/John Tavares/William Nylander second line could be one of the league’s best – the ripple effect on the rest of the roster will make Buds fans very happy. And signing worker bees Sissons, Duhaime, Blueger and Paul give Toronto some significant depth they just didn’t have last season.

Finally, the sign-and-trade for Raddysh gives the Leafs their first true powerhouse offense-producing D-man since Morgan Rielly’s heyday. Of course, there’s a risk Toronto is taking on that Raddysh’s tremendous 2025-26 season was an anomaly. But just about all of Chayka’s moves have a high-risk, high-reward element to them.

All of which is to say the Sabres are going to find the Leafs a considerably-tougher opponent this year than they were last season. And here’s a quirk of the schedule to keep an eye on: after taking on the Leafs in Buffalo’s eighth game of the season, there will be a four-and-a-half waiting period until the next Sabres/Toronto game in mid-February. And from there, Buffalo will square off the Leafs twice in their final eight games.

So, there could be scenarios in which those final two Sabres/Maple Leafs games have a direct impact on many different areas this year. The Maple Leafs could be clinging on to a wild card playoff berth – and so could Buffalo. The Leafs could surprise everyone by pushing past the Sabres in the Atlantic standings. Or Buffalo could put the Buds in their place and help keep them from making the playoffs for a second straight season.

It’s all making for one of the NHL’s feistiest regional rivalries, and the Leafs and Sabres clashes will be appointment viewing. And in the final estimation, Toronto and Buffalo could highly-impact each other’s success levels this season. 

So yes, the Maple Leafs will almost assuredly be a much tougher opponent for Buffalo, and if everything goes wrong for the Sabres and everything goes right for the Leafs, Toronto could leapfrog over Buffalo in this year’s Atlantic. But the Sabres should be able to take at least two of four games against the Buds -- and anything more will take a heck of an effort from the Sabres.