The Toronto Maple Leafs Free Agents and Where They Went
The Toronto Maple Leafs had a so-so start to the off-season.
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving reshaped the club's defense the past couple of days with additions like Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev to make the team meaner and tougher to play against, but he did so in a high-risk fashion.
With several new players coming into the organization, the Toronto Maple Leafs saw some of their key players from previous years depart to other organizations.
Here is a look at where those free agents landed.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Free Agents and Where They Went
T.J. Brodie - Chicago Blackhawks (Two-years, $3.75M Cap Hit)
When the Maple Leafs signed T.J. Brodie in the summer of 2020 he gave Morgan Rielly his best defensive partner since turning pro.
He was a steady, reliable and smooth skating defender that handled odd man rushes as good as anyone and could skate out of trouble.
Unfortunately the last year and a half of his four year deal his game fell off the planet. Brodie was healthy scratched for six of the seven games during the first round playoff series against the Boston Bruins and it was unclear what his future in hockey would look like.
Despite his dramatic loss of ice-time, Brodie still got a pretty good payday from the Chicago Blackhawks. Brodie inked a two-year deal that will pay him $3.75 Million per season.
Tyler Bertuzzi - Chicago Blackhawks (Four-years, $5.5M Cap Hit)
We didn't know Tyler Bertuzzi very long, it was just one season after signing last summer for $5.5 Million.
For the first two thirds of the season the signing looked like a complete bust (though the advanced numbers were very strong) as he had collected just seven goals in his first 55 games, but he turned it on down the stretch finishing with 14 goals in his final 25 games.
The Sudbury native was wanting a long term deal and the Chicago Blackhawks gave it to him as he signed for the same cap hit as last year, but it came with four years of term.
Bertuzzi will join Brodie in Illonois and become the highest paid forward on the team.
Noah Gregor - Ottawa Senators (One-year, $850,000)
Coming into the season, Noah Gregor was a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, so the club just had to qualify him, however elected not to, making him an unrestricted free agent.
The Beaumont native dressed in 63 games last season collecting 12 points, but could never really find a way to use his size and speed to his advantage. With an abundance of depth forwards the club decided to move on from Gregor.
The five year NHLer will remain in the province of Ontario as he signed a one-year deal at $850,000 with the Ottawa Senators. Once again, Gregor will remain a restricted free agent at the end of the year if the Senators decide to qualify him.
Joel Edmundson - Los Angeles Kings (Four-year, $3.85M Cap Hit)
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Joel Edmundson at the trade deadline for a pair of mid round picks and brought a physicality to the line-up they had lacked.
The Brandon, Manitoba native played well in Toronto as a bottom pairing defenseman and the Los Angeles Kings paid him for it.
Edmundson will head to California on a four-year deal with a cap hit of $3.85 Million.
Ilya Lyubushkin - Dallas Stars (Two-year, $3.25M Cap Hit)
Another midseason acquisition, Ilya Lyubushkin joined the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second time and cashed in playing in the spotlight.
The Russian born defenseman averaged 16:30 of ice-time in the playoffs and with Dallas losing some of their key defenseman, he signed a multi-year contract with a $3.25 Million cap hit.
Ilya Samsonov - Vegas Golden Knights (One-year, $1.8M Cap Hit)
After his first season in Toronto, it looked as thought Ilya Samsonov may break out as the future starting goalie for the franchise, however it was not the case.
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Following a summary where he went to arbitration over his contract, Samsonov struggled for almost the entirety of the 2023-24 season. He'll get another shot in Vegas after signing a one-year deal worth $1.8 Million to be Aidn Hill's back-up.