Toronto Maple Leafs 2022 Playoff Departures, Where Are They Now?

The Toronto Maple Leafs will play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round of the playoffs yet again this season.

It has been a forgone conclusion that the two teams will face each other since approximately November, but the two teams will both have very different rosters this time.

The Leafs have added Ryan O’Reilly and Jake McCabe, among others, while salary cap issues forced Tampa to make a ton of changes as well.

Now that the 2022-23 Maple Leafs regular season has come to an end, it is time to take a look back at the players that moved on from the playoff roster from last year.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Where Are They Now?

Ilya Mikheyev
After the 2018-19 season, Kyle Dubas signed one of the top KHL unrestricted free agents to a one-year entry level contract in Ilya Mikheyev.

Mikheyev would have a promising first season collecting 23 points in 39 games before sustaining a scary laceration to his wrist that knocked him out for the remainder of the regular season.  He came back for the bubble play-in round, but was invisible collecting zero points in five games.  In fact, it took him nearly 18 months to truly come back from the injury as he collected just seven goals in 54 games during the shortened 2020-21 season. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

In 2021-22, despite missing a large part of the season he had a break year registering 21 goals in just 53 games.  In the playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the lanky forward collected four points in seven games, including 16 shots and 18 hits.  Mikheyev priced himself out of Toronto and signed a four-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks worth an annual cap hit of $4.75M per season.

Just like his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mikheyev had trouble staying healthy this season and he was shut down for the year back in January.

The Canucks forward played the first portion of the year less than 100% after injuring his knee in preseason.  In January he opted for season ending surgery which looks to take eight months to heal from.  Mikheyev is hoping to be ready for training camp for the 2023-24 season.

Ondřej Kaše
The Maple Leafs signed Ondřej Kaše to a one-year deal worth $1.25M for the talented by much injured winger.

Kaše was once a 20-goal scorer when the team signed him, but it has been known throughout his career he has had trouble staying healthy ant the contract would be a risk.  When in the line-up, Kaše looked really good and a solid middle six forward, even chipping in with 14 goals and 27 points in 50 games.

Kaše signed on with the Carolina Hurricanes on a one-year deal worth $1.5M this past offseason, however like his track record was not been able to stay healthy.

In his first appearance of the season, Kaše sustained another concussion which knocked him out for the entirety of the 2022-23 season.  He played a total of 11:02 this season and may be at risk of his career ending due to concussions.

Colin Blackwell
Kyle Dubas acquired Colin Blackwell alongside Mark Giordano at the trade deadline last season.  Blackwell would play a fourth line role on the Toronto Maple Leafs averaging just under 11 minutes a game and collected three points in 19 games.

He appeared in all seven games against the Lightning and registered two points in just over seven minutes of ice-time.

The former Harvard University Alumni was able to almost double his salary as he signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks earning an annual salary of $1.2M.

Just like Kaše and Mikheyev, Blackwell has not been able to stay healthy and has not played since February.  He played in just 53 games this season and underwent sports hernia surgery in March that was expected to keep him out 12 weeks.  In Chicago, Blackwell had a similar role as in Toronto and averaged under 12 minutes of ice-time collecting ten points this season.

Ilya Lyubushkin
Nick Ritchie didn’t work out in Toronto and was  traded for Ilya Lyubushkin. The Moscow native played in 31 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs after the trade, primarily in a bottom pairing role as he averaged 16:28 of ice per game and three hits per game.

Lyubushkin became a free agent and signed a two-year deal worth $5.5M with the Buffalo Sabres, which seems a little pricey for a bottom paring defenseman.  Lybushkin fought injuries through October, November and December this season, missing nearly three weeks at one point.  He would miss 15 games total this year and registered 14 points in 67 games.