The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a very busy offseason this year. They have added several new players to their roster this summer after their ugly 2025-26 season, including Darren Raddysh, Sergei Bobrovsky, Jack Roslovic, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, Emil Andrae, Brandon Duhaime, and Nick Paul.
Yet, could the Maple Leafs have another move on the way with training camp almost here? The Original Six club is continuing to be connected to one of the NHL's most interesting free agents left.
In a recent article for Postmedia, Bruce Garrioch reported that the Maple Leafs are among the teams that have interest in former Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine.
"There is reportedly interest from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars, and Tampa Bay Lightning," Garrioch wrote. "If other Eastern teams are interested in Laine, why aren’t the Senators?"
With the Maple Leafs arguably needing another scorer to solidify their top nine, it is understandable that they have Laine on their radar. He would be an intriguing player for the Maple Leafs to bring in on a one-year prove-it deal or a professional tryout (PTO) for training camp.
Laine has dealt with serious injury trouble over the years, which has played a major role in him still being a free agent at this point in the offseason. He played in just five games last season for the Canadiens, where he posted one assist. Although this is the case, he could still be worth taking a chance on with the Maple Leafs due to his very good resume.
Laine could give the Maple Leafs more scoring if he bounced back and stayed healthy
There is no question that Laine can be a real difference-maker when he is healthy. He is a three-time 30-goal scorer, with his career-high being 44. He also posted 20 goals and 33 points in 52 games for Montreal in 2024-25, so he showed not too long ago that he can still put the puck in the net well.
Laine was also nearly a point-per-game player as recently as the 2022-23 season, as he recorded 22 goals and 52 points in 55 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets that campaign. The season before in 2021-22, he had 26 goals and 56 points in 56 games.
With all of this and the Maple Leafs needing more secondary scoring, it could make a lot of sense for them to take a gamble on Laine. If he ended up regaining his top form and stayed healthy, he could be a significant addition to a Toronto club that wants to prove last season was a fluke.
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