The 2014–15 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the 98th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on November 22, 1917. 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. Notable in this season was a series of Maple Leafs jerseys being tossed onto the ice at the Air Canada Centre by some fans upset with the team's poor performance, which at times was met with arrests and ejections from the building.

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. 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 team would miss the playoffs for the second year in a row for the first time since the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons. 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. Later in the day, strength and conditioning coach Anthony Belza was 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.

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.

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.McGran, Kevin. "Maple Leafs shake up front office, hire stats guru Kyle Dubas, 28, as assistant GM", Toronto Star, Toronto, 22 July 2014. Retrieved on 24 July 2014.

Many players were signed, lost and traded during free agency. See Transactions for a list of lost and acquired players.

Standings

Record vs opponents

Eastern ConferenceWestern ConferenceAtlantic DivisionMetropolitan DivisionCentral DivisionPacific DivisionTeamHomeAwayTeamHomeAwayTeamHomeAwayTeamHomeAwayBoston 1–4 6–1 4–3* 1–2* Carolina 1–4 1–4 1–2Chicago 3–2 0–4Anaheim 6–2 0–4Buffalo 4–0 4–3* 2–6 3–4 Columbus 5–2 4–1 0–5Colorado 3–2* 3–4*Arizona 1–3 2–3Detroit 1–4 4–1 4–1 0–1* 2–1* New Jersey 3–5 1–2* 1–4Dallas 5–3 4–0Calgary 4–1 3–6Florida 2–3 1–4 4–6 3–2 N.Y. Islanders 3–4* 5–2 2–3Minnesota 1–2 1–3Edmonton 5–1 1–4Montreal 3–4 3–4* 1–2* 0–4 N.Y. Rangers 5–4 4–5 6–3 Nashville 2–9 3–4Los Angeles 4–3* 0–2Ottawa 4–3* 3–2* 5–3 3–4 3–5Philadelphia 4–7 3–2 0–1 St. Louis 1–6 0–3 San Jose 1–4 1–3Tampa Bay 5–2 3–1 2–3 2–4 Pittsburgh 2–5 1–2 3–4* Winnipeg 4–3* 1–5Vancouver 5–2 1–4 Washington 6–2 2–6 0–4 Records9–5–14–8–34–7–13–7–24–3–01–5–15–2–00–7–0Division13–13–47–14–35–8–15–9–0Conference20–27–7 (Home: 13–12–2; Away: 7–15–5)10–17–1 (Home: 9–5–0; Away: 1–12–1)Overall30–44–8 (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 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 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

Schedule and results

Pre-season 2014 preseason game log: 5–2–1 (Home: 3–0–1; Road: 2–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Recap 1 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 RecapNotes: Game was played at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario.

Regular season