3 important moves the Toronto Maple Leafs made this summer
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an eventful summer. Every year, teams make changes, and sometimes there are more than others. Some changes are minor, while others are more impactful. I think the Leafs made some impactful changes this summer.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an eventful summer. Every year, teams make changes, and sometimes there are more than others. I think the Leafs made some impactful changes this summer.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are not running it back, as some often criticize them for doing. Leafs general manager Brad Treliving fired head coach Sheldon Keefe and most of his coaching staff. Treliving then hired Craig Berube as the new head coach and brought in some new assistant coaches to change the voices on the bench.
Another change made this summer was John Tavares relinquishing his captaincy and giving it to Auston Matthews. As the captain, you are expected to be the voice inside the locker room. I'm sure there were many times when Matthews might have wanted to say something but didn't want to overstep Tavares. Now, that will not be a problem. This is Matthews' team now, so we'll see how well the rest of the roster responds to his leadership.
As for making player changes, Treliving spent most of free agency making changes to the Leafs defense and goaltending. Leafs regulars that are gone from last season are defensemen T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano, and goaltender Ilya Samsonov. Time will tell if their replacements will be an improvement or not.
Now it's time to look at the Leafs three best moves from this summer and what the expectations should be.
Toronto Maple Leafs re-sign Max Domi
The Toronto Maple Leafs re-signed forward Max Domi on June 30th to a four-year contract worth $3.75 million annually. (All salary information from puckpedia.com)
Domi spent most of his first Leafs season playing in the middle six. He registered nine goals and 38 assists for 47 points in 80 regular season games. The Maple Leafs playoff run was short, but Domi registered one goal and three assists for four points in seven games. (All stats from hockey-reference.com)
Domi can play on the wing or at center, which allows him to move freely up and down the lineup. I would like to see him spend more time on the wing with skilled players in the Leafs top six. He knows what it's like to play with Mitch Marner from their days together in the OHL playing for the London Knights. Last season, Domi showed some good chemistry playing with Matthews as well.
Domi and Matthews were paired for about one-fifth of the season and both players posted improved numbers with each over what they put up with anyone else. Matthews scored more points and posted better on-ice numbers with Domi on a per minute basis than anyone else.
Domi went from barely winning his third-line minutes (despite extreme sheltering) to absolutely dominating his first-line minutes. Using Domi at the top of the lineup stretches the Leafs lineup and essentially gives them one extra star player to work with.
I think if Domi plays the majority of this season on one of the Leafs top two lines, he will improve upon his stats from last season. Getting back to the 20 goals he scored during the 2022-23 season shouldn't be out of the question for him. Domi could easily be a 20-goal, 60-point player for the Leafs.
Leafs sign Chris Tanev
The Leafs biggest signing in free agency was defenseman Chris Tanev. Treliving signed Tanev to a six-year deal worth $4.5 million annually, which will expire at the end of the 2029-30 season when Tanev is 40 years old.
Last season, Tanev split his time between the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars. He registered two goals and 17 assists for 19 points in 75 games. Tanev is a defensive defenseman, so don't expect a lot of points.
Although he is 34 years old, Tanev should be able to provide the Leafs with a reliable defensive guy who can allow his offensive defense partner to play to their strength.
The Leafs acquired Tanev's signing rights before the start of free agency, allowing them to negotiate with Tanev and his agent before any other team could. Acquiring his rights cost the Leafs a 2026 seventh-round pick and prospect, Max Ellis. The pick is a long shot to become an NHL player and if they did, it wouldn't be until the end of Tanev's deal. Ellis is currently an unrestricted free agent (UFA).
Tanev is not an overly physical guy (45 hits last season), but his good defensive positioning allows him to make a lot of blocked shots (207). That was the third-most shot blocks in the NHL last season. Colton Parayko with 218 and Moritz Seider with 212 were the only two ahead of him.
While Tanev is old for an NHL defenseman and could face an age-related decline at any time, as long as he maintains the level he was at last year the Leafs will have a star player who is probably the best defensivfe defenseman in the NHL, and if he isn't, he's very close to it.
With an average ice time of 19:41 minutes a game last season, Tanev is the logical choice to become Morgan Rielly's defense partner. If this pair can find chemistry early on in the season, it could help Rielly become a 70-point defenseman.
Leafs not re-signing Tyler Bertuzzi
The Leafs reportedly tried to re-sign Tyler Bertuzzi, but the 29-year-old forward priced himself out of Toronto. He ended up signing a four-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks worth $5.5 million annually.
Bertuzzi registered 21 goals and 22 assists for 43 points in 80 games with the Leafs last season. He averaged 16 minutes of ice time per game and provided some sandpaper with 98 hits. The Leafs gave him more ice time in the playoffs (18:35) but did not provide as much offense as the Leafs would have liked. He registered one goal and three assists for four points in seven playoff games for the Leafs.
Once the Leafs signed Tanev and re-signed Domi, there wasn't enough cap space to give Bertuzzi the amount he wanted. However, by not re-signing Bertuzzi, the Leafs can give more playing time to players like Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann. Losing Bertuzzi could become a blessing in disguise. Knies and McMann had good rookie seasons and could really take that next step with more playing time.
On the other hand, losing Bertuzzi could neutralize any gains from getting Tanev. The Leafs lost a star forward, but gained a star defenseman. Since they are the NHL's reigning top scoring 5v5 team, this seems like a no-brainer. However, there is the problem of depth scoring in the playoffs, and losing Bertuzzi makes that worse.
It was a surprise when Treliving signed Bertuzzi to a one-year deal for $5.5 million last off-season, but it wasn't a surprise when they couldn't keep him for the same amount. I think Bertuzzi would have been welcomed back with open arms by the players and fans, but it wasn't meant to be.
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Hopefully, other players will be able to step up and fill that gap on the left wing. My bet is on Knies benefitting the most from Bertuzzi leaving.