Now, the Leafs can use the $12 million to $13 million in salary cap space Marner leaves behind on other players this summer. Toronto always spends to the salary cap ceiling, and that isn’t going to change in the wake of Marner’s departure.

The Toronto Maple Leafs forward had just been clipped in the eye by the stick of Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov, which had made its way under his face shield midway through the second period of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Friday, and he began to panic.

Auston Matthews scored eight minutes into his first NHL game. The ensuing nine years saw the Toronto Maple Leafs captain put more pucks in the net than any other player in the league, which is why he arrived at Amerant Bank Arena surrounded by a cacophony of what his teammates typically refer to as “noise.

Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones shook his head, agreeing with Brad Marchand after the veteran forward, who's now ousted the Toronto Maple Leafs from the playoffs on five separate occasions, said the fans beat the pressure into this team.

The Toronto Maple Leafs bounced back from a blowout loss to shut out the Florida Panthers and force a Game 7. Highlights from Game 6:

The Maple Leafs lost to the Panthers and are now eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Who is most to blame?

Auston Matthews got his first goal of the series to break a scoreless tie in the third period, Joseph Woll stopped 21 shots, and the Toronto Maple Leafs kept their season alive by beating the Florida Panthers 2-0 in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Friday night.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have some big decisions to make this offseason after another early playoff exit. The main player entering free agency is star Mitch Marner, and many around the NHL are expecting him to leave Toronto.