How Much Better Are the Toronto Maple Leafs After Free Agency?

The Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the NHL's busiest teams during last Monday's Free Agent Frenzy.

Additions were made, notable players were re-signed, and multiple roster players from last year have played their last game in a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform.

While some clear weaknesses were addressed, and most of the signings were received well, a clear question still remains.

How much did the Toronto Maple Leafs actually improve?

How Much Better Are the Toronto Maple Leafs After Free Agency?

Forwards:

Up front, the Leafs re-signed Max Domi and made qualifying offers to Connor Dewar, Alex Steeves, and Nick Robertson. While nothing has been confirmed, it's safe to say both Dewar and Steeves will be returing to the team next year.

Robertson, however, is a different story. The 22-year old had a solid 14 goals and 27 points in just 56 games this past season. After being continuously scratched and getting little ice-time, Robertson recently requested a trade.

Again, while nothing has been confirmed, it's more than likely he will be traded in the coming months.

Along with Robertson likely leaving, forward Tyler Bertuzzi signed a 4-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. While this was likely the right choice to let him walk, the Leafs will need to find a way to replace the 35 combined goals scored by Robertson and Bertuzzi.

A guy like Easton Cowan can help replace those goals, as well as the continued progression of Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann. But apart from AHLer Cedric Pare, the Leafs forward group gained no new additions.

The Leafs have no issue scoring during the regular season, but scoring in the playoffs has been their downfall for two seasons in a row, and this issue will need to be addressed at some point sooner or later.

Defense:

This is the area that the Leafs needed to address the most, and they sure did.

Timothy Liljegren was re-signed, a (move that I am on board with), and Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson were added.

Both of these new additions bring something the Leafs defense group desperately needed. Tanev brings his superb shot-blocking ability and his reputation as one of the top shutdown defensemen in the entire NHL. While Ekman-Larsson brings more of an all-around game with some much needed mobility and the ability to play on the second power play unit.

While I like both players and their respective AAVs, I do have an issue with their contract length.

Ekman-Larsson will be making $3.5 million until he's 37 years old (four more years), and Tanev will be making $4.5 million until he's 40 (six more years).

The terms of both of these contracts are not ideal, however, both players bring something to the team that was desperately missing last year.

The defense group is an improvement and one of the best we've seen in the Matthews-Marner era.