In case you missed it, and it’s entirely possible during the middle of a beautiful Thursday night in Toronto, the Maple Leafs traded Ryan Reaves to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for defenceman Henry Thrun.
It’s a clever acquisition for the Leafs, adding a 24-year-old left-shot defenceman in Thrun, who could reasonably compete for, but isn’t guaranteed a place in the lineup this fall. He carries a $1-million cap hit for the 2024-25 season, and is slated to become a restricted free agent. Toronto did well to recoup some depth in exchange for Reaves, who was phased out of the lineup last season and his $1.35 million cap hit was considered onerous to the vast majority of teams. San Jose is expected to have some steady internal improvement from its very young core, while still being amid a promising rebuilding and can incur Reaves’ cap hit for one year without real detriment to its short-term goals.
This trade should be considered a win for the Maple Leafs, but it’s also important to be realistic about Thrun’s output. Thrun posted two goals and 12 points in 60 games for a Sharks team that finished dead last in the NHL by nine points. Simon Benoit has a clear advantage ahead of Thrun heading into training camp for the team’s third-pair spot on the left side, especially after his game took a clear leap after the 4 Nations Face-Off break. And really, here’s the important part: Thrun’s defensive metrics were awful last year, but how much of this is a function of being on a Sharks team that could stomach another year angling for a top pick?
There were 229 defencemen who played greater than 400 minutes at 5-on-5 and Thrun posted the fifth-worst Corsi (42.10%), the ninth-worst expected goals against per 60 (3.36) and fourth-worst expected goals share (38.66%) so it’s worth proceeding with some caution, even if this trade favours the Leafs. He was primarily paired with Cody Ceci last season as the 150th-most used pair in the NHL at 5-on-5. Thrun is still a young player who will benefit from a far superior lineup that’s positioned — at least theoretically, with the Florida Panthers in a different tier — to win immediately. Even if Thrun’s a true NHL No. 7-8 defenceman, he has more immediate value to the Leafs than Reaves, who did not appear in any games after March 2.
Reaves was well-liked by his teammates and he provided some requisite toughness at times for the Maple Leafs, but ultimately, he still graded out as one of the worst players in the league, both by conventional metrics and the charts. Toronto recoups some cap space in a 1-for-1 trade as well, which continues to be of paramount importance as general manager Brad Treliving remains in pursuit of a top-six forward. After the Reaves-Thrun trade, the Maple Leafs are operating with $5.33 million in cap space via PuckPedia. And this trade is essentially about the Leafs clearing cap space. Reaves has played 912 career games, and it’ll afford him a chance of approaching the 1,000-game milestone with a young Sharks team that is certainly still building towards a very bright future.
For further analysis on the trade, The Leafs Nation’s Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill provided an instant reaction to the deal Thursday evening:
Maple Leafs grade: B
Sharks grade: C+
All stats from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick
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When Auston Matthews was selected first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016, it was a development that was expected to change the franchise’s fortunes. Matthews lived up to the preposterous hype and emerged as one of the best goal-scorers on the planet, winning the Hart Trophy in 2022, while capturing three Rocket Richard Trophies.
Matthews took over the Maple Leafs’ captaincy for the 2024-25 season, where the team was eliminated in seven games against the Florida Panthers. He’s lived up to the hype, but it’s worth revisiting where Matthews stands among the 2016 class, nine years removed from walking up to the podium.
Matthews is the headliner of a deep group
Toronto made the correct decision with the first overall pick and Matthews is the clear headliner of the class. Matthews leads all players with 401 goals and 727 points, and he’s made the greatest individual impact thus far. There are several great players in this cohort, including Matthew Tkachuk, while Charlie McAvoy and Adam Fox are truly elite defencemen. Clayton Keller and Tage Thompson are bona fide star forwards, while Brandon Hagel’s elite two-way impact and improved scoring touch is helping him ascend through the class rankings. Make no mistake about it though, Matthews’ individual output far exceeds anyone else in the class. There is one challenger to his 1A status, however.
Matthew Tkachuk is the lone real challenger to Matthews’ best in class status
It depends on what you value, but Matthew Tkachuk is the lone player in the class that can raise a claim for the No. 1 status. Tkachuk has won back-to-back Stanley Cups, while the Florida Panthers are well-positioned to three-peat next year. The 27-year-old has played the most games out of player in the class, with 642 contests under his belt, while Matthews ranks second with 629 games. Tkachuk has been a finalist for the Hart Trophy, he is arguably one of the most clutch players in the NHL as he raises his game during the postseason, If you’re evaluating for talent alone, then Matthews is the clear winner, but Tkachuk’s superior postseason resume at least invites an argument.
How Matthews stacks up
Matthews ranks first in goals and points, while ranking second in games played and assists. He’s the most gifted individual player in the class and he’s far superior to Patrik Laine, who many scouts positioned as a true challenger for the top pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. There is a real degree of separation between Matthews, Tkachuk and the rest of the group at this point of their careers.
Conclusion
It’s a compelling exercise and Tkachuk’s superior postseason resume is compelling but Matthews is a franchise-defining player for the Maple Leafs, and he’s the unquestioned face of the organization after Mitch Marner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights. Tkachuk can show off his two rings and counting, and Matthews will need at least one Stanley Cup to vault him into the all-time discussions. Matthews is the best player in the class, while firmly in the prime of his career.
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Utah Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong is hopeful that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matias Maccelli can find his game again because he feels the forward is a good person.
The two teams connected on a trade on June 30th that sent the forward to Toronto and a conditional third-round pick going the other way. The conditions on the pick are that it improves to a second if Maccelli reaches 51 points and the Leafs reach the playoffs in the 2025-26 season.
While Armstrong may want to see Maccelli rebound to get that future second-round pick, he is also rooting for Maccelli the person to succeed because he feels the 24-year-old is a good man. He appeared on Leafs Morning Take with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on Monday to discuss how the trade came together.
“I’ve always viewed being at GM with your players as a partnership. I’ve always had pretty good relationships with the players,” he said. “ When there’s not a fit for us in our club, we’re gonna do what’s best for our club. But at the same time, if we can help the player out and move him to a good place for him, too, and that’s what happened in this particular deal. It’s a good deal for Utah, it’s a great deal for the Leafs, and it’s gonna be good for the player. He is gonna go in and he’s gonna play around some high-end skilled players and it’s gonna benefit the Leafs and it’s gonna benefit him.”
Armstrong said that part of why Maccelli fell out of favour with the Mammoth was due to a combination of factors. Utah’s young crop of players which includes Logan Cooley, Dylan Gunther, and Barrett Hayton, were eating up more ice time while Maccelli was never able to find his footing after a slow start to the season. The growing internal competition is a sign that the Mammoth are on the rise and looking to take the next step, hence why they had to sacrifice a promising young player in Maccelli to clear room for others. But that doesn’t mean Armstrong isn’t going to miss what the forward brought to the fold.
“ He’s a high-end playmaker. That’s what he is. He’s an opportunist, he creates a lot of odd-man rushes you’re gonna love,” he said. “ He’s got some sweet play makings, and he is getting a lot of no-look stuff going on. When he is on, he can light it up. He’s certainly a dynamic player at times. I think he’ll have to find his synergy with the players around him, but I think he’ll do that. I think he’ll be a good fit for Toronto.”
GM Brad Treliving have been busy making some moves throughout the offseason beyond the Maccelli trade, including the sign-and-trade of Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights and Ryan Reaves to the San Jose Sharks for Henry Thrun. There is still some business to attend to, with the big one being the acquisition of a top-six forward.
At the time of filing, that trade has yet to materialize, and it’s unclear if it will by the time training camp rolls around in about two months from now. While it seems that nothing of note is going on in the hockey world, Armstrong said that GMs like himself and Treliving still have a lot to do over the summer.
“ It is pretty busy. It’s not like people would think that you’re at the cottage in the Muskoka somewhere with your feet up on the dock and when your dog’s sitting beside you,” he said. “The phone’s ringing, you’re hiring people. Staffs nowadays, they’re huge in the National Hockey League, so you’re rehiring. You’re constantly having strategy to make sure you get the best staff known to mankind around you. And people are leaving and coming. The world of NHL analytics are getting fine-tuned, everything’s getting better. You better be vested in the summer to get better as an organization; the NHL doesn’t sleep, it’s 24/7.”
You can watch the full interview with Armstrong down below:
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NHL dot com has released their top 10 forwards under-25 and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies has cracked the list, landing at number 8.
Knies, 22, just signed a six-year extension to stay with the Maple Leafs after setting career highs in goals (29) and assists (29) for 58 points in 78 games last season. He was second on the team in hits by forwards and third overall, with 182 in 78 games. He was also third on the team in even strength goal. He had another successful playoff run, as well, with five goals and eight points in 13 games against the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers.
Rounding out the top three were Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle, New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes, and Minnesota Wild forward Matthew Boldy, who finished first, second, and third on the list, respectively. Knies placed ahead of Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis, who finished ninth, and Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov, who finished tenth.
With the offseason departure of Mitch Marner for the Vegas Golden Knights, Knies is going to have a massive opportunity to further cement himself as part of the core. His style of play lines up with the type of play the Maple Leafs are looking to implement into their game and day-to-day culture, and considering he’s almost sniffing the 60-point mark only two years into his career, the Leafs could have a real unicorn type of player on their hands here. The type of player reminiscent of those such as Tom Wilson, Matthew Tkachuk, essentially any power forward that can produce offence at an elite level.
Knies is on the hook with the Maple Leafs for $7.75 million annually until after the 2030-31 season.
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The NHL announced their schedule earlier this afternoon and as such the picture is a little cleared on what the year will look like for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The season will begin at home against Montreal on October 8th, and run until April 15th, when the Leafs face the Senators in Ottawa. There will be a lengthy Olympic break from February 4th until the Leafs return to action on February 25th, and Toronto will enjoy a merrier Christmas this season as home games on December 23rd and 27th means less travel over the holidays (at least for players who have their families in the GTA.)
The Leafs have one Saturday night off this year, and it falls on January 24th, the night after Mitch Marner’s return to Toronto. It goes without saying that giving that game a spotlight on Hockey Night in Canada would have been great and one would hope it still gets national instead of regional coverage.
The Leafs will meet in Vegas earlier in January on the 15th, and that will be the first opportunity for Marner to face his former club.
Besides those pieces here are a few interesting pieces from the Leafs schedule:
Back-to-backs:
The Leafs have 15 back-to-back games this season and October is one of the busiest months for them with the Leafs playing in three back-to-backs to start the year, although the peak time for back-t0-backs will be in March, when Toronto plays in four of them. It’s also somewhat interesting that February, which features only five games because of the Olympic break will involve two sets of back-to-backs on the road, one in Alberta and one in Florida.
On the brighter side of that, two of the back-to-backs feature two home games for the Maple Leafs, while others like the Florida and Alberta back-to-backs aren’t overly strenuous travel commitments, nor is the home and home series the Leafs will play with Buffalo and short trip after a home game against Carolina to Ottawa in March.
Busiest and least busy months:
The workload is fairly consistent in the NHL now. February with five games due to the Olympic break is obviously the lowest workload month, and October having a later start, and April wrapping up by the 15th result in 11 and 7 games respectively. The rest of the time the Leafs will be somewhere in the 14-16 games range, with January being the peak working month with 16 games that month. Toronto only has one back-to-back that month but also only has one stretch of two days off.
The upside to schedule in January is that it is primarily made up of games against 2024-25 bubble teams or teams that missed the playoffs. There is a game against Florida, one against Colorado, two against Marner’s Golden Knights, as well as the Jets twice.
Longest breaks:
Besides the Olympic break and the Christmas break, the Leafs will have two stretches of three nights without hockey. There will be one in November and one in April. With the NHL starting at the regular time in October and ending mid-April as usual, while accommodating the Olympic break has resulted in fewer prolonged stretches of time off. A depth is king mentality might be the way to go for the regular season and the Leafs are positioned well having two goaltenders they can trust.
Homestands and Road trips:
As noted in the Maple Leafs press release:
- Longest home stand: Five games (3x) – October 13 to October 21, December 6 to December 16, January 19 to January 27
- Longest road stretch: Six games (2x) – November 22 to December 4, January 29 to February 26
The upside to that second road trip stretch is that the Olympic break is in the middle of it, so it potentially feels a bit more like four and two game road trips.
In contrast the October homestand presents a strong opportunity for the Maple Leafs to establish themselves early in the year.
Some notable roadtrips include the January 29-Feb 3, Western Canada (plus Seattle swing), and the Leafs get a little less of a winter break as the California road trip isn’t until the spring running from March 30th until April 4th.
Toughest month:
While January might be the busiest month, December looks like the toughest month. The Leafs have games against the Panthers, Lightning, Hurricanes, Oilers, and Stars scheduled for that month as well as tough divisional rivalries against the Senators and Canadiens. Home games against the Sharks and Blackhawks, as well as a game against the Predators might balance that out a little, but after you factor in the time off around Christmas, this month is every bit as busy as January but with tougher competition.
Additionally, the Leafs busiest road month is March, when they will play nine games outside of Toronto (
Some other things of note:
Toronto will face the defending Stanley Cup Champions/second round opponent Florida Panthers for the first time and will play each other four times throughout the year.
Hockey Day in Canada will be on January 17th this year and the Maple Leafs will be in Winnipeg to face the Jets. (Nothing like spending a January Saturday night in Winnipeg.)
And while it is not included on the schedule, the likely date for the trade deadline will be March 6th, assuming the NHL is staying consistent with the first Friday in March as their target but per the CBA it also needs to represent the 75% mark of the season.
The full schedule is here:
It’s the middle of summer, but it’s not too late to reflect upon the best goals of the 2024-25 Toronto Maple Leafs season. Although the playoffs ended in profound disappointment, by most objective measures, it was still a strong season from the Leafs, full of highlights and cool moments along the way, so we’re going through the best goals of the Leafs’ season. The series is unranked, ranking highlights tends to be a subjective exercise in any event. We’re starting off by taking a look at Philippe Myers’ wondergoal against the Detroit Red Wings.
Let’s set the scene: there was nothing to play for other than pride for either party during the final game of the regular season, as the Leafs already clinched the Atlantic Division, while the Red Wings were missing the playoffs for the ninth consecutive year. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube did his best to ensure that his star players would receive limited minutes, while providing an extended look for several other players that played sparingly. Myers was often the odd man out, after winning a roster spot in training camp, and he stepped up with an absurdly creative goal that was atypical for him.
Toronto trailed 3-1 in the third period, in what was an otherwise nondescript contest. During a sustained offensive zone sequence, Steven Lorentz fired a pass over to Myers, where it was expected that he’d launch a shot on goal or tee up a shot for the open winger. Myers broke contain, waltzed around Tyler Motte, walked Austin Watson, then remained patient and beat Cam Talbot five-hole. It was an outstanding goal and perhaps words aren’t doing it justice, so here’s the play:
Philippe Myers scores a FILTHY goalpic.twitter.com/V4VlCSlwO3
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 18, 2025
“I don’t even know what happened there. A little shake and bake, and that’s it,” Myers said post-game. “It feels really good to see that one go in, help the confidence a little bit going into the playoffs.”
“Really nice, really nice,” Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said of Myers’ goal. “He kept saying once a year he’d pull something like that out, so he waited until game 82, but it was a really nice.”
Berube also told reporters that it might be the goal of the year, and we’re not going to disagree.
Myers did not participate during the playoffs as a healthy scratch, looking onwards as the Maple Leafs were eventually ousted by the Florida Panthers in seven games during the second round. He earned a two-year extension in January which re-ignited some competition between the Maple Leafs’ bottom-six defencemen. And while Myers showed some consistency in the latter half, Berube ultimately felt more comfortable with his six-man unit locked in.
This was Myers’ final game of the 2024-25 campaign and he ended it with one of the coolest moments of the Leafs’ season. It’s an impression that ought to give him some confidence entering training camp, where he’ll have to continue to fight for his spot in the lineup.
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It’s the middle of July, so The Leafs Nation are recapping the best goals of the 2024-25 season. We started this series yesterday by looking back on Philippe Myers’ wondergoal against the Detroit Red Wings, and if you missed it, few would blame you for skipping the final game of the regular season. Today, we’re focusing on a goal that few Leafs fans would’ve skipped last year.
William Nylander was a constant force for the Maple Leafs. When the team found itself on losing streaks, Nylander was the cool, calm and collected superstar stating ‘good teams find their way out’ which often rang prophetic. Toronto’s power play struggled badly through the opening stages of the regular season, stumbling into a 3-for-38 clip. It was too formulaic, relying on an initial drop pass that teams readily anticipated, setting up their base defence cleanly. And while Nylander likely isn’t paying too much attention to the critical press, he responded with an emphatic goal against the Montreal Canadiens on November 9.
Nylander picked up the puck and flew through the neutral zone, as the Leafs held onto a 1-0 lead early in the second period. Instead of dropping the puck back to the point man, in this case, Morgan Rielly, Nylander continued straight to the net and the Canadiens couldn’t get set. Nylander breezed past Jake Evans and made light work of a Lane Hutson stick-check, before ripping the puck into the cage for a 2-0 lead. It was a remarkable goal against the Leafs’ historical rival and a pathway towards a more direct power play, that eventually connected at a 24.8 percent clip, the ninth-best rate in the NHL.
WILLIAM NYLANDER
END-TO-END POWER PLAY GOAL! pic.twitter.com/sVjdkoheyE
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) November 10, 2024
This goal headlined an excellent performance from Nylander overall, where he kept the Canadiens’ defence on its heels, while recording a game-high seven shots. And you could argue that Nylander recorded a superior goal against the Canadiens later in the season, where he outmuscled Hutson and tied the game in the third period on the road, in a stunning January 17 comeback, where the Maple Leafs rallied from a 3-0 deficit to record seven unanswered goals in the winning effort.
Nylander makes the game look so simple when he’s at his best, and the Canadiens received a front-row view of his tremendous skill set, ability to weave through traffic and get his dynamic shot off, throughout the 2024-25 season.
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Back when I was a youngin’ in the days before the internet, I used to carry a notebook around with me along with a giant Hockey Almanac book. And whenever I needed to kill some time, I’d sit around writing up trades that were going to improve the Toronto Maple Leafs. I certainly wasn’t trading Doug Gilmour or Felix Potvin but would usually end up with a page of six or seven trades that would make the Leafs better around them.
Most years six or seven trades seems pretty excessive, but a potential over/under of 6.5 for Brad Treliving deals this offseason seems reasonable. The Roy, Maccelli, Thrun, and Joshua deals put Treliving at four trades, and the Leafs are presently sitting at 16 NHL forwards (if you include Robertson and Cowan), and eight NHL defencemen. At least three bodies still need to be sent out (two if you aren’t planning on Cowan getting a shot with the Leafs immediately). Either way, unless it is a multi-player deal, there are still signs that Treliving’s phone will be busy. It’s an interesting offseason and a once we’re a bit closer to training camp we can start debating if it has been a good one.
Here’s a few other thoughts relating to the Leafs roster situation:
Leafs made a fit for Cowan and he fills a need
The one thing that the Leafs have in abundance are veteran players. There is no real danger of Toronto undergoing another youth movement anytime soon and while I say that as a primarily negative thing, it also means that the Maple Leafs can insulate the youth they do have and with their current depth, as well there is a great opportunity to take a chance on a rookie like Easton Cowan and have him start the season in the NHL playing curated minutes in the Leafs’ bottom six forward group.
Top to bottom the Leafs now have the opportunity to put Cowan with a veteran centre, which is a real plus. Players like Roy or Laughton might not be offensive dynamos, but their play doesn’t prohibit the development of his offensive skill nor would potential additional linemates like Dakota Joshua, Bobby McMann, Matias Maccelli, etc. The Leafs also have enough two-way talent for matching against bottom six competition that rookie mistakes can be more easily absorbed while letting Cowan develop his game. The opportunity to keep him with the Leafs is there. Not only is the opportunity there but there is a need for Cowan as well.
At this point, Cowan might be one of the better potential bottom six puck moving and playmaking options to spark secondary offence on the Leafs. The bottom six will have enough capable finishers but is lacking players that will give them something to finish. Cowan fills that need.
Cowan versus a player like Kampf or Jarnkrok is also about exploring what his potential brings. Calle Jarnkrok on day one of the season might be a decent two-way player capable of putting up 20-30 points and killing some penalties but he’s still going to be that at the end of the season as well. Cowan might be slow out of the gate, but as he gets his reps and approaches 50 games or so the Leafs might find that the player who started at a 10-15 point pace at the beginning of the year has developed into a 40-50 point pace guy who doesn’t require sheltering and is capable of filling some special team roles as well.
The argument shouldn’t be that Cowan gets a spot no matter what, but while the longstanding belief for opening night rosters has been “tie goes to the veteran”, it seems like the better outlook for the Leafs might be that the tie goes to the rookie.
Brandon Carlo might not be long for the Leafs
Brandon Carlo is in the unfortunate situation of being the easiest to trade Leafs defenceman of the group. The growing sentiment might be the organization wants to part ways with Morgan Rielly and honestly, there is a case to made for that change, but his full no movement clause makes that difficult.
I’d argue that if the Leafs are actively trying to ship out a defenceman, Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the way to go, but if the intention is to bring back a meaningful return for the player departing, I guess you can scrap my idea.
That leaves Carlo, who is on a reasonable $3.485M AAV cap hit for the next two seasons and only has an 8-team no trade list. Throw in that fact that there is likely a market for him and that’s why we are hearing about him.
Carlo is not someone the Leafs should be in a hurry to discard. Give him a training camp with the Leafs and he’ll be far more effective than he was for Toronto late last season and in the playoffs. It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to explore what he can do away from Morgan Rielly as well.
Carlo departing would hinge on one of two things. The first being that if the Leafs were attempting to make a trade for a top six forward, Carlo is a potential trade chip for that. The second being that if the Leafs are looking to add a puck mover to their blueline, he might be the guy dealt to make space for them.
Carlo is one of the few Leafs defencemen on the right side of 30 and maybe that needs to factor into their intentions a little. On the other side of the coin, players with Carlo’s skill set are readily available every NHL trade deadline and if the Leafs move on from him and regret it, they can correct their mistake at a later date.
Who’s left and who’s leaving?
Carlo might be the odd man out on the blueline, but the forward situation is a lot murkier, especially if Easton Cowan is in the mix.
Let’s start with the premise that Michael Pezzetta is unlikely to hold a spot in the Leafs lineup but he is exactly the type of player that Brad Treliving and Craig Berube think they need as a 13th forward option. As easy as it would be to say Pezzetta and Cowan are Marlies and we’re talking about the Leafs having 14 forwards and 8 defencemen, and really only one player having to go, it’s probably not that simple. It might be, but the Leafs are likely looking at moving out at least two.
Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf are the names that are most frequently touted as departing but the reality is that teams aren’t lining up for them and the Leafs might be better off dealing serviceable players for better returns and embracing what Jarnkrok and Kampf can still provide in a depth capacity.
Nick Robertson constantly seems to be on the verge of being traded but he too is still here. When you look at the Leafs roster, it is difficult to envision a spot on the lineup card that makes sense for him, but similar to how the Leafs should make an effort to accommodate Easton Cowan, there might be a place for a north-south skater with an aggressive offensive zone attack. That said, other teams want that too and unlike his brother, Nick isn’t 6-foot-3 which seems to be more of a prerequisite for the Leafs now.
Brad Treliving has spent the summer (and trade deadline for that matter) finding guys who do less for $3M than what Bobby McMann does for $1.35M. It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that McMann still looks like the better alternative to Scott Laughton, Nicolas Roy, Matias Maccelli, and Dakota Joshua, but it’s probably also worth appreciating that will create some value for McMann in a league that doesn’t have many 20-goal scorer options on the market, especially at that price.
McMann is also in the last year of his deal and will likely be making more than $1.35M in 2026-27. He was not a favourite of Craig Berube and didn’t score in his final 11 regular season games nor did he score in 13 playoff games. If Toronto can cash out on McMann, it might not be a bad thing and given that 16 of his 20 goals came against Metro Division (8) or Pacific Division (8) opponents, perhaps teams on one of those divisions will see value in an affordable scoring option (he has future Oiler written all over him.)
Domi shouldn’t be exempt from consideration when considering potential moves at the forward position, but it does seem hard to envision it happening unless a further upgrade is coming to the Leafs’ top six forward group. After an underwhelming 2024-25, Domi improved in the playoffs, and perhaps the best thing for him and the Leafs is to see what he can do in what should be a year spent entirely on the wing.
Assuming nothing happens and this is the Leafs group heading into 2025-26, waivers and demotions to the AHL for some long time NHLers might be necessary. Kampf is certainly a possibility there and Jarnkrok may be as well, but the most likely option is that there is still one more Leafs trade coming.
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Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander often makes the game look easy, especially when he’s creating in the offensive zone. Nylander was a constant force for the Maple Leafs throughout the 2024-25 campaign, where he finished second in the NHL with 45 goals. We’re going through the best goals of the Leafs season, where Nylander will be a constant on the list. Yesterday, we revisited Nylander going coast-to-coast against the Montreal Canadiens. This time, we’re revisiting a goal that required far less skating, where Nylander showed off his superior hand-eye coordination.
During a December 12 game against the Anaheim Ducks, Nylander was in excellent form, as the Maple Leafs were fighting off a wave of injuries to remain competitive in the Atlantic Division. Holding a 1-0 lead against the Ducks in the first period, Nylander breezed through the neutral zone and while commanding the attention of four Ducks’ defenders, dropped the puck back to Max Pacioretty while continuing his drive to the net. Pacioretty sent the puck back to Nylander at the front of the net, who tried to tip the pass into the net. It didn’t get enough velocity to get towards the net, floating into the air and Nylander batted the puck promptly past Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal for one of the best goals of the Leafs’ season.
“Willy was really good for me tonight,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said post-game. “All around, he did a lot of good things, not just the opportunities and the chances he gets, which was a lot, and I know he is not happy about not putting more in the net. But he worked. He did a lot of good things and made strong plays. His puck battles were high — he won a lot of battles for the puck, which is important.”
It was just another routine night for Nylander, but his presence and ability to generate chances unlocked one of Pacioretty’s best games of the season. It was a terrific season from Nylander, who also emerged as the team’s best player during the playoffs, and when he’s at his best, few players can make professional hockey seem like an easier pursuit.
PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST
Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost one huge piece and a couple of marginal ones this offseason. They clearly identified the bottom six as a priority and have padded their depth there by acquiring Nicolas Roy, Matias Maccelli, and Dakota Joshua via trade, but in that same breath, they’re down a 100-point regular season player who also provides Selke-quality defence.
It’s clear that the Leafs’ work isn’t finished when it comes to padding the roster, but outside of losing Mitch Marner, they didn’t lose much from their roster. With that being said, let’s take a look at the dates that former Leafs who left this past offseason will be making their return to Toronto. It features one date worth circling and a couple that you might forget about until the day of the game.
Mitch Marner – January 23rd, 2026 (VGK @ TOR)
The elephant in the room here is the day Mitch Marner returns to Toronto. Between the length of his time with the team, the shortcomings while he was one of their highest-paid players, and the messy departure at the end of this season, it’s safe to say that Friday, January 23rd of next year will be a game worth setting aside plans for.
Many have already speculated that Marner’s return will be comparable to John Tavares’ return to Long Island after he left the New York Islanders. While the circumstances are different, they both involve a star player leaving a team whose fans felt that the tenure left a lot to be desired. Only, in the Islanders’ case, their fans were more upset about Tavares leaving whereas a good chunk of Leafs fans were ready to move on from Marner a while ago. There will likely be a mixed reception, but the magnitude of the game should make it worth watching.
Pontus Holmberg – December 8th, 2025 (TBL @ TOR)
Pontus Holmberg was a pain in the rear to go up against in the bottom six, but his lack of offence in his first few NHL seasons contributed to his departure. The fact that the Maple Leafs elected to non-tender him out of fear that his arbitrated cap hit would be higher than what they were willing to pay him likely gave him a chip on his shoulder. Now, he’s on a divisional rival and will get a chance to hurt his former team when the Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Maple Leafs on December 8th.
Ryan Reaves – December 11th, 2025 (SJS @ TOR)
Only three days after the Holmberg return game will mark the Ryan Reaves return game. The enforcer was traded to the Sharks after free agency opened up, receiving defenceman Henry Thrun in return. It was a little bit of a shocking move, considering Reaves’ ineffectiveness with the Maple Leafs last season, but the team is certainly happy that they were able to get anything for him, and equally, Reaves is likely happy to be on a team that will give him consistent playing time.
He’s close to the 1000-game mark, and although he won’t be able to hit that mark in 2025-26, he’ll be more than happy to work towards that against the Maple Leafs and maybe even surprise everyone with a goal.
Alex Steeves – November 8th, 2025 (BOS @ TOR)
This one might be a little bit of a reach, considering Steeves only played a combined 14 games as a Maple Leaf, but at the same time, that could be as good of motivation as any to show up the team that didn’t give him a proper chance. Steeves was essentially the Auston Matthews of the minors while in Toronto, but he never got more than a cup of coffee with the big club. The Bruins appear to be in a transitionary phase, and that could mean a legitimate shot for Steeves to prove he belongs in the NHL. If he gets a shot out of training camp, bet the over on goals when he returns to Toronto. Just kidding, sort of (not really).
PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST
Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.
It was a true breakout season for Matthew Knies, who emerged as one of the NHL’s best young power forwards last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Knies showed constant improvement throughout the season and by the latter half of the year, many Leafs fans and media considered him the fifth member of the Core Five. Knies also has a flair for the spectacular and few moments represent this idea better than his buzzer-beater against the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 2.
It appeared that the Leafs and the Penguins were entering a routine sequence to end the second period, with Sidney Crosby on the ice to take a defensive zone faceoff. Crosby won the draw and puck tipped back to Erik Karlsson, where all hell broke loose. Karlsson hastily fired a pass to his teammate and Knies jumped the route. Displaying real situational awareness, Knies gunned it down the ice for a breakaway, looked up and fired a shot before reaching the hashmarks, past Penguins goaltender Joel Blomqvist.
Knies provided the Leafs with a 5-4 lead entering the second intermission, in what was one of the most entertaining games of the season. Toronto took a 2-0 lead in the first period, before Cody Glass, Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby recorded consecutive goals to provide the Pittsburgh with a 3-2 advantage heading into the first intermission. Rickard Rakell forced overtime in the third period, setting the stage for a dramatic finish, where William Nylander recorded the overtime winner for the Maple Leafs on a terrific individual rush:
Knies showed off his tremendous skill set throughout the year, bullying small defenders with his combination of speed, size and power, while displaying excellent scoring touch around the net. You could make a strong argument that Knies was the Leafs’ second-best forward in the playoffs after Nylander, and he’s certainly ready for a larger leadership role as the bridge between the team’s current win-now window and an uncertain future. This was the type of play which indicated that Knies was taking a leap, and it amounted to one of the coolest goals of the year in an early-March thriller.
PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST
Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.
As soon as the reports of Mitch Marner heading to the Vegas Golden Knights became a reality, you could have guessed that the Toronto Maple Leafs were going to have a different look in 2025-26. For the last half-decade, their cap structure was the same every year. The Core Four of Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares took up half of the cap, leaving them with roughly 50% of the cap to play with for the rest of the team. General manager Brad Treliving left his mark on the team last season after revamping their defensive corps in the offseason, and this year, for his third offseason at the helm (but this time without Brendan Shanahan), he’s completely revitalized the bottom six.
After re-upping Tavares and Matthew Knies on tidy deals worth $4.38 million and $7.75 million annually, respectively, Treliving got to work on the trade market. First, it was the acquisition of Utah Mammoth castaway Matias Maccelli, who was a legitimate contributor back when they were the Arizona Coyotes, but struggled in 2024-25 after seeing his ice time dip with a wave of young players suiting up. Then, it was the acquisition of Nicolas Roy, who the Maple Leafs were surprisingly able to acquire from the Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade for Marner. He’s expected to slide in as their third line centre, a role that the team hasn’t truly filled in the past few years. Most recently, they acquired forward Dakota Joshua from the Vancouver Canucks, similar to Maccelli, they took a gamble on a bounce-back season after a down year.
Between the combination of Tavares and Knies at about $12 million and the acquisitions of Maccelli, Roy, and Joshua (hell, you can include Michael Pezzetta in that group if you want, too), we are now seeing what direction the Leafs have chosen to go in with their new allocated cap space. There were enough top-six forwards on the market to replace with Marner, but considering the price tags some of these players came in at, they would have just running back the same structure with a different player had they gone for a Nik Ehlers or Brock Boeser type. Sure, those players didn’t come in at $10.6 million, but they would have commanded more had Toronto signed them, considering the Maple Leafs weren’t high on either player’s wish list. In the end, the Leafs have opted to get their bottom six set in stone, and between Joshua, Maccelli, and returning players such as Bobby McMann, they have enough players to use as stop gaps in the top six until they eventually make that upgrade.
The trade deadline market is nearly impossible to gauge year in and year out. The Leafs spent two first round picks and two top prospects combined to acquire forward Scott Laughton and defenceman Brandon Carlo, but in the same breath, a scoring winger who doesn’t bring much on the defensive or physical side of the puck could go for much cheaper. For example, Andrei Kuzmenko went from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round pick, and he ended up putting up 17 points in 22 regular season games and six points in six playoff games for the Kings. The Maple Leafs would happily take those numbers for a middle-round draft pick, but other factors such as cap hit and term will come into play. All of this is to say it’s hard to gauge what the market will look like eight months from now.
Either way, the Leafs seem to be content with the roster they’re rolling out for the 2025-26 season, at least for right now. And, if nothing else, their bottom six no longer seems like it’s going to be a band of misfits. Roy is a solid third-line centre who put up north of 30 points despite being stuck behind Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl, and William Karlsson on the centre depth chart. Joshua has proven that he can flirt with 20 goals and jump into the top-six when needed, and Maccelli could even be one of those top-six forwards if he rebounds the way the Maple Leafs are expecting him to. It’s a stark difference from last season, when it never really felt like the Leafs had a consistent third or fourth line. The closest thing they had was the playoff-checking line of Steven Lorentz, Scott Laughton, and Calle Jarnkrok, and while that line was excellent on the shutdown side of things, they didn’t contribute any offence when it mattered. Aside from that, they tried to run a sheltered scoring line featuring players like Max Domi and Nick Robertson, which only ever worked when one of those players was, uh, scoring. Both players struggled with consistency last season, so it’s likely not a plan they want to run it back with.
Now you’ve got a pretty likely pair of Roy and Joshua on the third line, Maccelli, who can play anywhere in the top line, and then perhaps you can run with your original checking line of Laughton, Lorentz, and maybe somebody like Michael Pezzetta if you want a younger, more capable version of the enforcer type than Ryan Reaves. That leaves you with Domi, Jarnkrok, Robertson, and David Kampf to sprinkle in and around the lineup at your disposal.
It’s not the star-studded Core Four + secondary characters layout we’ve gotten used to over the years, but in the end, this is what a large chunk of fans wanted. If nothing else, the depth of the 2025-26 Maple Leafs will feature a vastly different look than it has during the entirety of the Core Four era.
PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST
Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.
