A comprehensive list of which key pieces the Leafs lost and where they landed
While all the talk has revolved around the players the Leafs brought in, here's a list of who they let go and the implications those losses could have on the team this year.
After yet another early playoff exit, the Toronto Maple Leafs walked into the off-season with more questions than answers regarding the construct of their NHL-roster. The core players became public enemy number one yet again, the goaltending was thrown to the wolves, and the back-end was talked about with a lot of disdain. In essence, there weren't many players outside of Auston Matthews and William Nylander that were safe.
Brad Treliving and company entered the free agent frenzy with two goals in mind and those were bolstering the defense and addressing their goaltending. They traded for the signing rights of Chris Tanev before ultimately handing him a long-term contract, they added a veteran Stanley Cup winning offensive-minded defenseman in Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and then signed his fellow Florida Panthers teammate in Anthony Stolarz to form a 1A/1B tandem with Joseph Woll.
Up front the Maple Leafs didn't make many alterations with the exception of handing Max Domi a contract extension, signing Alex Nylander to an AHL contract, and avoiding arbitration with Connor Dewar. With very little movement taking place, the idea is that Treliving will look towards in-house options to not only handle top-6 roles but fill out the rest of the lineup.
While the players they brought in will play significant roles in 2024-25, they still let go of several key components from last year's team. Tyler Bertuzzi walked and signed with the Chicago Blackhawks, Ilya Samsonov found a new home in Vegas, and several defensemen were not extended in T.J Brodie, Mark Giordano, Ilya Lyubushkin, Joel Edmundson, and John Klingberg.
The Blackhawks are looking to be far more aggressive after Connor Bedard's rookie season and with an excess of cap space for the next few seasons, they decided to dip their toes in the water and made several alterations, including snatching both Bertuzzi and Brodie. Those two might be the most significant losses to the Maple Leafs considering their role with the club last year.
While Bertuzzi had a somewhat disappointing first year in Toronto, he still managed to score 21 goals and 43 points, while playing primarily in a top-6 role. He brought about a bit of snarl, aggression, and always found his way to the dirty areas - something the current club might be missing. In Brodie, they let go of a top-4 defenseman who ate close to 22 minutes a night for the club and was a solid contributor offensively with 26 points last year and 28 points in 2021-22.
In Edmundson (Los Angeles) and Lyubushkin (Dallas), the Maple Leafs lost a couple of defensive-minded workhorses but their tenures were short and sweet enough that they didn't leave a lasting impact, where they will be severely missed. Tanev's inclusion to the back-end can mitigate a lot of what they brought to the table and then some. Comparatively, Klingberg and Giordano still remain on the open market and that might be the case once the season opens with interest being at an all-time low for both veterans.
Samsonov was an integral part of the Leafs blue paint for the last 2 seasons but he brought about a roller coaster of emotions. When he was on his game, he looked elite, but when he was struggling, the Maple Leafs' offense needed to score 5-6 goals to secure a chance of a victory. His save percentage dropped from .919 to .890 from 2022-23 to 2023-24, his G.A.A. rose from 2.33 to 3.13, and his GSAA went from 17.4 to -14.9, although his record remained nearly identical.
The Leafs went through a cycle of changes this summer and it remains to be seen how they will work out once the season starts. However, on the outside looking in, Treliving did a relatively good job at upgrading the defense with Tanev and finding a solid backup netminder with 1A upside in Stolarz.
Nevertheless, there are a lot of things that have to go right for these moves to look like home-runs and not addressing the departure of Bertuzzi could come back to haunt them if players like Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann can't handle their new-found roles.
Source for Tyler Bertuzzi's statistics: Hockey-Reference
Tyler Bertuzzi stats and bio
Source for T.J. Brodie's statistics: Hockey-Reference
T.J. Brodie stats and bio
Source for Ilya Samsonov's statistics:
| POLL | ||
AOUT 11 | 1058 ANSWERS A comprehensive list of which key pieces the Leafs lost and where they landed What is the biggest loss for the Maple Leafs this off-season? | ||
| Tyler Bertuzzi | 783 | 74 % |
| T.J. Brodie | 51 | 4.8 % |
| Ilya Samsonov | 42 | 4 % |
| Other | 182 | 17.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
