Max Pacioretty, RW
This may come at a surprise that veteran winger Max Pacioretty still hasn’t been signed with now already being September. Pacioretty might have had an underwhelming 2024-25 regular season campaign with the Maple Leafs in which he registered just five goals and eight assists for 13 points over 37 games played while being constantly sidelined with ailments.
But he more than made up for it for his enigmatic play during the Stanley Cup playoffs for Toronto. Pacioretty posted three goals and five assists for eight points in 11 playoff games while pulverizing opponents with his physical play all over the ice. He was also the player that potted the winner in Game 6 against the Ottawa Senators to help the Leafs reach the second round of the playoffs for the second time in three years. Perhaps Toronto will use the professional tryout route for him again in the coming weeks. Otherwise, a prospective team will likely think similarly for those that still believe he still has something left in the tank.
James Reimer, G
Who could forget “Optimus Reim” James Reimer during his time with the Leafs. After all, it was Reimer that helped Toronto become a contender once again during the 2012-13 season as they reached the playoffs for the first time after almost a decade of failure. Who knows how history may have been different for him and the Maple Leafs had the Game 7 collapse against the Boston Bruins never happened that year. Nevertheless, Reimer gave the Leafs and their fans six solid years of goaltending, posting a career 85-76-23 record with a solid 2.83 GAA and .914 save percentage with the team.
Since then, the 37-year-old goalie had made stops in San Jose, Florida, Carolina, Detroit, and most recently the Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks last season. With the Sabres and Ducks, Reimer still managed to put up respectable numbers during the 2024-25 season, recording 10 wins along with a 3.04 GAA and .896 save percentage. Perhaps the Leafs could give him a call and recruit him to fill a role similar to what Matt Murray did for Toronto last year as their emergency fourth goaltender. It would also give Reimer the proper send off by going back to where it all began for him if he does end up calling it a career.
Jack Campbell, G
Finally, we have the Leafs former fan favourite “Soupy” in Jack Campbell. No Leafs fan will forget the immediate impact he made when Toronto first acquired him from the Los Angeles Kings in 2020. By helping the Maple Leafs stabilize their net during a time when Leafs starter Frederik Andersen was out with a neck injury at the time, it kept Toronto in contention as a result. Ultimately, Campbell would eventually supplanted Andersen for the starting role two years later while helping the team reach the playoffs each season he had been in the Leafs net. He would finish with a stellar 75-51-14 record along with a 2.50 GAA and .916 save percentage in 77 career games with Toronto before signing a huge five-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers following the 2021-22 season.
Perhaps the size of the contract weighed too much on his shoulders as it was the beginning of his downfall after that. Struggling to find his game ever since, Campbell was later bought out by the Oilers and even entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program last season before finishing off the year with the Detroit Red Wings AHL affiliate Grand Rapids. Hopefully, a prospective team can give Campbell that one more chance to rediscover the form that once made him a legitimate elite goaltender in the league. Maybe, just maybe returning to the Leafs where he once had the most success with could be the perfect antidote to all of his problems.