When it came to offensive scoring last season, the Toronto Maple Leafs ranked ninth in the league with 268 total goals. It may be painful to state the obvious, but with former Leaf Mitch Marner recording 102 points during his 2024-25 campaign with the club, it meant that he played a role in 38% of the goals scored by Toronto last year.
Now with Marner’s departure from the team, the Maple Leafs will need some players to step up to help fill some of the void on offense. At the same time, the Leafs could still look to the free agent market to pursue valuable scoring depth. But with a limited salary cap left to work with now, they should try to get the biggest bang for their buck in searching for potential options.
As a result, here we will take a look at 3 veteran NHL players that could provide that much-needed secondary scoring for the Leafs at a potential bargain price.
Cam Atkinson
As a former 40-goal scorer, winger Cam Atkinson could provide some added scoring punch to the Leafs roster despite having turned 36 years old this past June. Mostly known during his days with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Atkinson had recorded 20+ goals and 40 or more points seven times during his NHL career, with his last occurring during the 2021-22 season with the Philadelphia Flyers.
On a stacked Tampa Bay Lightning lineup last season, he struggled for the most part and posted just four goals and nine points in 39 total games of action. With goal scoring being his main forte, Atkinson is looking for a fresh start with a contender to finish off his career and the Leafs could be the exact team to provide him with that opportunity without blowing the bank.
Robby Fabbri
As a former first round pick of the St. Louis Blues back in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Robby Fabbri never ultimately realized his full potential after turning pro following the 2014-15 season. Nevertheless, Fabbri still ended up carving out a solid NHL career so far by averaging double digits in goals for the bulk of his nine seasons to date. More importantly, he was a part of current Leafs head coach Craig Berube and his Stanley Cup-winning Blues team back in 2018-19.
As a result, with his familiarity of Berube’s system, along with his versatility to play center or the wing, Fabbri could turn out to be a great fit for Toronto. And at just the young age of 29, he should still have some quality years left in him. On top of that, after coming off a down season with the Anaheim Ducks in 2024-25 in which he amassed just eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in 44 total games played, Fabbri shouldn’t be demanding too much for his contract for the upcoming season.
Max Pacioretty
How about signing someone that the Leafs are already familiar with? After having a somewhat disappointing 2024-25 regular season campaign with Toronto that was filled with injuries and inconsistency, Max Pacioretty finally showed his true value during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Pacioretty became a force on the forecheck, laying out bodies with bone-crushing hits, while adding some much-needed scoring punch by recording three goals and five assists for eight points in 11 playoff games for the Leafs.
If he can stay healthy, Pacioretty could still fit in nicely on either of the top two lines for Toronto. The fact that he hasn’t landed with another team yet in free agency gives the Leafs the perfect opportunity for a reunion. More importantly, it would give Pacioretty the chance to finish off some unfinished business with the team as he hopes to finally capture the Cup for the first time before he calls it a career.