8 Former Toronto Maple Leafs Players Still Without a Job for 2024-25
Which former Leafs still remain unsigned in free agency?
The Toronto Maple Leafs once again turned over a significant portion of their roster this summer.
When it comes to NHL free agency, how fast a player is snatched up really depends on many factors, including a team’s needs, their cost and potential compatibility in the lineup to name a few. In the case for some recent former Toronto Maple Leafs, they managed to quickly find new homes right on the first day of the open market.
Tyler Bertuzzi swiftly landed with the Chicago BlackHawks on a four-year deal.
TJ Brodie joined Bertuzzi in Chicago on a two-year pact. Noah Gregor was recruited by the Toronto Maple Leafs arch rivals Ottawa Senators on a one-year contract. Joel Edmundson surprisingly received a big four-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings.
But nobody could beat the fortunes of goalie Ilya Samsonov as he promptly signed on with the perennial contending Vegas Golden Knights team, even if just for one season.
However, not all former Maple Leafs players have been as lucky with NHL free agency now entering its third week.
As each day goes by, they may become more worried on whether or not they will have a place to play for the upcoming season, or if their NHL career will be coming to a close. For some of them that actually still have something left in the tank, that would be a shame for it to end that way if so.
Here, we will take a look at eight former Toronto Maple Leafs players that are unfortunately still without a job secured up for the 2024-25 NHL season.
8 Former Toronto Maple Leafs Players Still Without a Job for 2024-25
James Van Riemsdyk
One of the Maple Leafs more prolific scorers during the past decade, James Van Riemsdyk spent six seasons with the team between 2013-2018.
He played a key role in helping the team reach the playoffs on three separate occasions during that time. Having tallied 30+ goals twice in the blue and white, Van Riemsdyk ranks 31st on the Leafs’ all-time list for goals with 154 in total.
Since moving on from the team, he has had stints with the Philadelphia Flyers, as well as with the Boston Bruins last season. With the Bruins, Van Reimsdyk produced a respectable 11 goals and 38 points in 71 games.
Of all the players found on this list, Van Riemsdyk is most likely the one to find a home soon, given any contending team should welcome his veteran presence, along with the ability to provide some solid secondary scoring even at the age of 35.
Mark Giordano
Mark Giordano had been a warrior for the Toronto Maple Leafs since joining the team at the trade deadline back in 2022.
Not only did he help stabilize the Leafs back end for over two seasons, he also helped mentor the team’s younger stars in the process, with Timothy Liljegren in particular. Giordano never backed down from playing the hard minutes that the team thrusted him into, along with chipping in with some offense given the former Norris Trophy winner’s pedigree.
He finished with 9 goals and 45 points over 144 games in a Leafs’ uniform.
Turning 41 when the 2024-25 NHL season is set to begin this fall, his age may actually turn away many potential suitors. But if Giordano can prove that he could still hold off Father Time for now despite some slight regression this past season, he may be able to keep a job at least for another year before officially calling it a career.
Martin Jones
In the case for Martin Jones, the Leafs signed the veteran goaltender the previous offseason to serve an insurance depth for the club.
It turned out that the Leafs ended up having to use that insurance when Joseph Woll went down to a long-term injury while Samsonov failed to find his game during the first half of the 2023-24 season.
In a season that could have been easily written off for the Maple Leafs, Jones managed to keep them afloat by helping them overcome the adversity that they faced. He started off strong, but eventually tailed off as the season grew older. In 22 games overall, he went 11-8-1 with two shutouts, along with a 2.87 GAA and .902 save percentage.
With the Leafs inking Matt Murray on a one-year deal to serve as their insurance goalie heading into the 2024-25 season, that meant Jones needed to find a new home for next year. Given that he has proven to still be a reliable backup option in the league this past season, Jones should not have too much trouble in finding a team interested in his services.
John Klingberg
For one of the Maple Leafs’ biggest free agent signings from the last offseason, John Klingberg ultimately turned into a complete bust in the end.
With the Leafs hoping for some added offensive boost to both their blueline and overall power play, Klingberg failed miserably to deliver in that regard. He ended up registering just five assists in 14 games played before prematurely ending his season (and tenure) with the Leafs due to a hip injury that required surgery.
Klingberg had shown in the past that he could be a Norris Trophy-calibre defenseman, scoring 10+ goals on four separate occasions along with registering 40+ points another six times in his 10-year NHL career.
But given that we have witnessed some steady regression in his game the past couple of seasons, along with the uncertainty on how well he will recover from his hip surgery, it may present a challenge for him to find a potential suitor for the upcoming year.
Tyson Barrie
For one of the best offensive defenseman in the league back in his prime, many will remember the supposedly underwhelming performance that he had in a Leafs uniform back during the 2019-20 NHL season (even if the stats don't match the narrative).
After producing back-to-back 14-goal, 50+-point seasons with the Colorado Avalanche prior to joining Toronto, Barrie managed to only put up 5 goals and 34 assists over 70 games in the blue and white.
Barrie has since played for the Edmonton Oilers, where he posted three consecutive 40-point seasons quarterbacking one of the league’s top offensive team. However, in his more recent tenure with the Nashville Predators, his game has severely fallen off a cliff and was healthy-scratched on multiple occasions as a result.
At just 32 years old, it doesn’t appear that Barrie is done just yet, but with his stats eerie similar to that of P.K. Subban when he ultimately faded from the league, anything may still be possible.
Travis Dermott
As one of the mainstays of the Toronto Maple Leafs blueline over parts of five seasons between 2017-22, Travis Dermott never ended up living up to his potential in being a second-round pick back in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
Despite playing some solid defense at times, Dermott managed only 12 goals and 52 points over 251 career games from an offensive standpoint with Toronto. As a result, he eventually fell backwards in the organization’s depth chart and was ultimately traded to the Vancouver Canucks at the 2022 trade deadline.
Unfortunately for Dermott, the change in scenery did not help his cause as he has struggled to stay in the regular NHL lineup in recent years. But at just the young age of 27, he still has plenty of time to prove that he belongs in the NHL and potentially still be a solid contributor down the road. For the time being though, he will need to find a team that will give him that exact opportunity to do so.
David Rittich
Back in his time with the Calgary Flames, David Rittich seemed to always be a Leafs killer whenever Toronto played them.
So when he actually joined the Leafs at the 2021 trade deadline, they were hoping he could replicate some of that magic against other teams as their temporary backup with Frederik Andersen on the mend at the time. However, Rittich failed to impress, registering just a 1-1-1 record with a 2.72 GAA and .888 save percentage in four games.
Nevertheless, Rittich has since found his game in a Los Angeles Kings uniform this past season as their trusted backup. He posted his best career numbers with a 2.15 GAA and .921 save percentage to go along with his solid 13-6-3 regular season record over 24 games of action. With numbers like that, there should be some teams that will be confident enough in offering him a backup role for the upcoming year. (All stats from NHL.com)
Matt Martin
Prior to signing with the Leafs, Matt Martin was part of the best fourth line in the NHL alongside Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas on the New York Islanders. In joining Toronto, Martin will be remembered most as being the team’s enforcer to help protect the young stars on the Leafs squad when the Auston Matthews era began back in 2016. In the process, a strong bromance bond also formed between him and Mitch Marner, which helped elevate the team chemistry even more.
With Martin’s effectiveness and usage waning during the second season with the club, he was eventually dealt back to the Islanders during the 2018 offseason to reunite the members of the best fourth line in hockey once again.
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In doing so, he has maintained that same role with New York for pretty much the past six seasons. Therefore, it appears as though it will be Islanders or bust for Martin to continue his NHL career, but if the Islanders are looking to keep their renowned line intact, there is a good chance it will actually happen.