3 former Toronto Maple Leafs we are glad are gone in 2024-25
Which Maple Leafs players from last season do they not sorely miss?
During the past offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs made numerous changes with respect to their personnel both at the players and management level.
Gone were many faces that helped the Toronto Maple Leafs in their recent playoff runs, while various new blood was recruited and infused into the organization with hopes that it could help take the team to the next level going forward.
For some of the players that had departed, both the Leafs and their fans likely have desperately missed having around. That included enjoying the sight of having Ilya Lyubushkin, now with the Dallas Stars, laying “the boom” on opponent bodies and relishing the hard-nosed, gritty play of Joel Edmundson around the net, now with the Los Angeles Kings, just to name a few.
But for many others, the Maple Leafs and their faithful are most certainly glad that they are gone, especially after seeing their less-than-stellar performances to date so far this 2024-25 NHL season.
Not only that, in some cases, those that had replaced them in their former roles on the Leafs are actually currently excelling with the club.
As a result, let’s take a look at three former players that played for the Maple Leafs during the 2023-24 NHL season that we’re glad aren’t back for another season with the Blue and White this year. Had that happened, it could have been a whole different story for the Leafs this year.
3 former Toronto Maple Leafs we are glad are gone in 2024-25
T.J. Brodie
Finally, we have last season’s second-half breakout Leafs star in Tyler Bertuzzi.
After signing a one-year deal with Toronto during the 2023 offseason, he got off to a slow start and endured a miserable first half to the 2023-24 season. However, Bertuzzi became a revelation down the stretch when he was placed on the top line with Auston Matthews. In doing so, it revitalized his offensive prowess, as he registered 14 goals and 7 assists for 21 points in his final 26 games. With his strong finish, it ended up netting him a huge contract with the Blackhawks this past offseason as he signed a four-year deal worth $22 million. Certainly at that price, there was no way Toronto was going to retain him.
Often being caught out of position and missing his coverage at times, Brodie had one of his worst seasons in a while as he produced a CF% of just under 50%, an expected goals rate of 49.5% and a scoring chances rate of just 49% for 5-on-5 situations.
With his apparent regression, the Leafs chose not to extend the 15-year veteran as Brodie signed on with the Chicago Blackhawks during the offseason.
That decision by the Maple Leafs has turned out to be a wise move now as Brodie has continued his struggles into the 2024-25 NHL campaign. In 15 games this season with the Blackhawks, opponents have outscored them 9-3 whenever Brodie was on the ice in 5-on-5 situations. On top of that, Chicago has used him primarily on the bottom pairing while giving him just a little over 15 minutes of ice time on average, his lowest playing time ever in his career.
In addition, with a CF% of 45%, an expected goals rate of 47%, and a scoring chances rate of 46% in all 5-on-5 situations, his decline in play has resulted in mostly tilting the ice in the opponents’ favour whenever he took the ice.
Even more worrisome was the fact that his defensive partner was often seen needing to help him out when he struggled in puck battles. Perhaps Father Time has eventually caught up with Brodie, but for the Leafs sake, they sure chose the perfect time to let go the once-reliable defensive wizard in the league.
Ilya Samsonov
When Ilya Samsonov first joined the Leafs as a free agent during the 2022 offseason, he brought new hope and excitement to the club.
Not only were the fans attracted to his smile and witty character, but Samsonov finally gave the Leafs some stability in the net by putting together a strong first season with the team. He went 27-10-5 with a 2.33 GAA and .919 save percentage in 42 games played while helping the Maple Leafs reach the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in almost two decades.
However, Samsonov ran into some unexpected struggles during his second year with the team. In fact, it got so bad that the Leafs actually had to put him on waivers to send him down to the Toronto Marlies to get his game back on track.
In the end, he came back to finish off the season with Toronto, but put up less-than-stellar numbers with a 3.13 GAA and .890 save percentage despite a 23-7-8 record. As a result, the Leafs let him walk to become a free agent upon the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign, as he eventually landed with the Vegas Golden Knights ahead of the 2024-25 season.
So far this year, Samsonov has continued his struggles in rediscovering his game, posting a 3-2-1 record with a 3.15 GAA and .897 save percentage in six games with the Golden Knights serving as their backup.
On the other hand, his current replacement on the Leafs in Anthony Stolarz has been nothing short of sensational thus far. With a dominant 7-3-2 record, along with a 2.18 GAA and .927 save percentage, he has given the Maple Leafs a chance to win every night.
Without the departure of Samsonov, there would not have been the addition of Stolarz, and who knows where Toronto would have been this year without that happening.
Tyler Bertuzzi
Finally, we have last season’s second-half breakout Leafs star in Tyler Bertuzzi.
After signing a one-year deal with Toronto during the 2023 offseason, he got off to a slow start and endured a miserable first half to the 2023-24 season. However, Bertuzzi became a revelation down the stretch, ended up with 20 goals and some of the best advanced stats on the team.
In doing so, it revitalized his offensive prowess, as he registered 14 goals and 7 assists for 21 points in his final 26 games. With his strong finish, it ended up netting him a huge contract with the Blackhawks this past offseason as he signed a four-year deal worth $22 million. Certainly at that price, there was no way Toronto was going to retain him.
But what has Bertuzzi done so far for Chicago this season? In 18 games played, he has recorded only 5 goals and one assist for 6 points while averaging similar in ice time as his last season with the Leafs.
At this rate, he is on pace for only 27 points this year, which would be his lowest total in a non-COVID-shortened season since his rookie year back in 2017-18 with the Detroit Red Wings. For someone getting an average annual salary of $5.5 million, that production is just not good enough. (All stats from hockey-reference.com and naturalstattrick.com, and all salaries from PuckPedia.com)
Had the Leafs kept Bertuzzi, together with the currently struggling Max Domi as well, they would have had close to $9 million tied up with two players that are on pace to score less than 30 points each on the season.
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Moreover, with the departure of Bertuzzi, both Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann have stepped up their games and have been productive in the Leafs top-six so far this year. As a result, at almost half the cost of Bertuzzi for the both of them combined, they have definitely given great value back to the Maple Leafs in helping to their early success in 2024-25, making the loss of Bertuzzi a distant memory.