Leafs' John Tavares, Joseph Woll give befitting reply to Matthew Tkachuk, Brad Marchand's subtle dig at Toronto fanbase

Toronto Maple Leafs fans are sick of the same song and dance this time of year.

Nine years of the Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander era have resulted in just two playoff series wins, despite postseason appearances in nine consecutive seasons.

The fan base has seen its team lose in every way. Blowing series leads, Game 7 heartbreaks, getting shut down by their opponents, and in 2025, it got even worse. The Maple Leafs combined it all into one during their second-round series with the Florida Panthers.

A 2-0 series lead evaporated as the Panthers shut the Maple Leafs down the rest of the way, eliminating them with a 6-1 blowout in Game 7 in Toronto. Understandably so, fans have displayed their anger and frustration with another playoff failure.

In the aftermath, we've heard Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand, among others, come to the Maple Leafs' defense, vowing that the market puts too much pressure on its team. Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun shared John Tavares' comments on the matter on X (formerly Twitter).

"There's pressure everywhere. It's an unbelievable place to play, an incredible fan base that loves its team and so badly wants to see you win. When it happens here again, it's going to be something pretty remarkable, and you want to be a part of that," Tavares said.

John Tavares is a pending UFA in the final season of the seven-year, $77,000,000 contract he signed to come home to Toronto in 2018.

Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll provided his perspective on the pressure

More of the Maple Leafs were asked about the pressure put on them by the market and media in Toronto.

Sportsnet's Luke Fox shared Joseph Woll's take on it on X.

"First off, I think there's pressure anywhere you play. And the thing about pressure is, it comes from a good place, right? It comes from us having fans that care. It comes from us having media that cares, from players that care. I've had a unique experience of only playing for this team, so I can't really speak for an experience of playing for a different team," Woll said.

"But I know that there's nowhere I'd rather play, and I'm happy how much people care. And it really makes you have to focus that much harder and really be in the moment that much more when you have that pressure. The flip side is, you don't have pressure, and no one cares. I think it's pretty awesome that everyone cares as much," Woll added.

Strong comments from Joseph Woll that will certainly further endear him to the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase.

It's safe to say the organization needs more players with that same mindset in order to get over the hump and play through the pressure that appears to affect them every postseason.