Free agency is now less than two weeks away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Maple Leafs.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Nick Robertson – A perennial subject of trade chatter, Robertson finally delivered the offensive season Toronto had long hoped for, even as the team cratered around him. The 24-year-old winger, a second-round pick in 2019 and the younger brother of Stars star Jason Robertson, set career highs with 16 goals and 32 points in 78 games, settling in as a useful secondary scorer in a middle-six role despite averaging under 13 minutes a night. His expiring $1.825MM contract makes him an obvious qualifying-offer candidate, with reporting pegging his next deal in the $2-3MM range on a short term. The wrinkle is the new front office: with John Chayka looking to reshape the roster, Robertson is exactly the kind of cost-controlled scorer who could either stick as a cheap middle-six piece or be folded into a larger trade.
F Matias Maccelli – Acquired from Utah a year ago to help soften the loss of Mitch Marner, Maccelli endured a bumpy first season in Toronto but quietly proved he belongs. The 25-year-old Finnish winger posted 14 goals and 39 points in 71 games and, notably, led all Maple Leafs forwards in expected-goals share despite the club’s woeful possession numbers, a sign his underlying game was better than either the box score or a lengthy December healthy-scratch streak suggested. He has been open about wanting to stay, and the playmaking he brings on the wing fills a genuine need. The complication is money: coming off a $3.425MM cap hit, his qualifying number could become awkward if Chayka lands another pricier top-six forward, leaving him both a re-sign candidate and a potential trade or offer-sheet target.
D Emil Andrae – One of two pieces coming back in the June 16 deal with Philadelphia, alongside goaltender Samuel Ersson, Andrae is the kind of young, cost-controlled defenseman a quckly retooling team can find a role for. The 24-year-old Swede, a second-round pick in 2020, locked down a regular spot on the Flyers’ blue line after an early-season shuttle to the minors, finishing with two goals and 13 points, a plus-15 rating, 68 hits, and 58 blocked shots across 61 games. Undersized at 5-foot-9 but a creative, mobile puck-mover with some power-play utility, he is exactly the type of young defenseman the new front office can try to grow into an everyday player, with a path to a third-pairing job and second-unit power-play time in Toronto. Coming off an expiring $903K cap hit and arbitration-eligible, he is a straightforward qualifying-offer candidate the Leafs should be glad to keep.
Other RFAs: G Samuel Ersson, F Jacob Quillan
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Calle Jarnkrok – A useful veteran in better times, Jarnkrok’s four-year run in Toronto appears to be ending on a sour note. The 34-year-old, who turns 35 early next season, managed just eight points in 56 games after a sports hernia limited him to 19 games the prior year, and he was often ineffective while absorbing minutes that might have gone to younger players. Reporting from David Pagnotta indicated he is unlikely to be back, and with Chayka explicitly aiming to get younger and faster, the expiring $2.1MM forward looks all but certain to move on, whether to another NHL club or back to Sweden.
D Troy Stecher – Claimed off waivers from Edmonton in mid-November, Stecher became one of the few feel-good stories of Toronto’s season, stabilizing an injury-ravaged blue line with the tenacity and shot-blocking that have defined his career. The 32-year-old right-shot defenseman skated in 58 games and chipped in three goals and 14 points, his best offensive output since 2019-20, while logging dependable minutes for next to nothing against the cap at $787.5K. He has made clear he hopes to re-sign, though he has also acknowledged that a return to Vancouver, where his career began, holds appeal if he reaches July 1 unsigned. For a rebuilding team that still needs bodies on the right side, another cheap deal to bring him back would be sensible business.
Other UFAs: F Travis Boyd, F Vinni Lettieri, D Matt Benning
Projected Cap Space
The Maple Leafs enter the summer with more flexibility than they have had in years and a brand-new management group eager to use it. After a disappointing 32-36-14 season that finished last in the Atlantic and out of the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, Toronto fired GM Brad Treliving and coach Craig Berube, handed the front office to former Coyotes GM John Chayka alongside senior adviser Mats Sundin, and hired Jim Hiller as head coach. The roster teardown is already underway: the June 16 trade of Woll and Benoit to Philadelphia cleared roughly $5MM, and Chayka moved quickly to add the offseason’s top available defenseman, Darren Raddysh, on a June 19 sign-and-trade. The Leafs have ample room for Chayka to chase top-six help on the wing and possibly down the middle, with a projected $18.8MM in cap space. The bigger swings figure to come on the trade market: Morgan Rielly and his full no-trade clause sit at the center of trade speculation, and power forward Matthew Knies, under contract for five more years with no trade protection until the final year of the deal, looms as the team’s most coveted chip. Add the No. 1 overall pick at this month’s draft, where Penn State’s Gavin McKenna is the consensus top selection, and Chayka has no shortage of avenues to reshape a roster and get back into the playoffs.
Salary cap information via PuckPedia.