The Toronto Maple Leafs are officially a better team than they were last year thanks to Brad Treliving’s most recent moves.
When July 1st came and went, Toronto Maple Leafs fans were worried, but he totally redeemed himself on Day 2.
Max Domi ($3M AAV) just fell short of this list, but in my opinion, the Leafs secured two of the best eight available UFA’s this year, signing them to team-friendly deals. In addition to Domi, Toronto signed John Klingberg ($4.15M AAV) and Tyler Bertuzzi ($5.5M AAV); two positions they desperately needed.
It would have been nice to secure those three to a deal with term, but with the uncertainty of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and John Tavares’ future, a one-year deal makes a ton of sense for this roster.
As frustrating as it’s been to watch this core-four only win one playoff round over the past seven years, the team is better off keeping them together and adding around them, so Treliving made the right decision not to blow up the roster.
There’s a strong possibility that Matt Murray and TJ Brodie get traded now, but it will be interesting to see what happens.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Are Better Team Than Last Year Now
Let’s look at the Leafs roster during Game 5 against the Florida Panthers and compare it to this year’s.
Forwards:
- Calle Järnkrok – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
- Alex Kerfoot – John Tavares – William Nylander
- Michael Bunting – Ryan O’Reilly – Noel Acciari
- David Kämpf – Sam Lafferty
Defenseman:
- Morgan Rielly – Luke Schenn
- TJ Brodie – Justin Holl
- Jake McCabe – Timothy Liljegren
- Mark Giordano
Goaltenders:
- Joseph Woll
- Matt Murray
- Ilya Samsonov (Injured)
Now let’s take a look at what it could look like now:
Forwards:
- Tyler Bertuzzi – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
- Matthew Knies – John Tavares – William Nylander
- Calle Jarnkrok– Max Domi – Sam Lafferty
- Pontus Holmberg – David Kämpf – Ryan Reeves
Defenseman:
- Morgan Rielly – John Klingberg
- TJ Brodie – Mark Giordano
- Jake McCabe – Timothy Liljegren
Goaltenders:
- Joseph Woll
- Ilya Samsonov
The roster is very well-rounded for forwards, as you now have two 20-plus goal scorer’s on three lines, well your fourth line is defensive and gritty.
I still think the defensive-group could improve and it’s a little scary to run with Woll and Samsonov but it doesn’t seem like they can afford much more right now.
The only way this roster gets significantly worse is if they trade Nylander for salary-cap reasons only and they can’t replace him with another skilled player. As it currently stands, this roster is $8M over the salary-cap which is worrisome, but that’s why they pay Brandon Pridham the big bucks.
Bertuzzi and Klingberg are huge wins, well Domi could be a big hit or miss, but overall, the Toronto Maple Leafs did exactly what they needed to do and are a better team today than they were at the end of last season.