Time Is Running Out to Make the Toronto Maple Leafs a Serious Contender
General manager Brad Treliving has had a year to assess the Leafs roster. His moves over this offseason and next will determine whether the team can capitalize on a dwindling window for a championship.
Life comes at you fast. Almost a decade ago the Toronto Maple Leafs hit rock bottom and started to build the foundation for what they hoped would be a consistent championship-contending team.
Finishing at the bottom of the league standings after the 2015-2016 season led to the selection of stud center Auston Matthews first overall in the NHL draft. Prior drafts had the Toronto Maple Leafs attain defenseman Morgan Rielly and wingers Mitch Marner and William Nylander with high first-round picks.
Soon, free agent center John Tavares was added to the mix on a seven-year deal to signal the start of a title push.
With one year left on Tavares' deal, the Leafs have only once made it to the second round of the playoffs. The core has remained the same while coaches and the supporting cast of players have had numerous changes.
The Leafs talent-laden roster is not baby-faced anymore and many years have passed them by with nary a long postseason run. Leafs management must add the proper pieces to the roster over the next two offseasons to take advantage of a quickly shrinking window to a title.
Time Is Running Out to Make the Toronto Maple Leafs a Serious Stanley Cup Contender
The Leafs and their Atlantic Division rival Florida Panthers, finished eight points apart after the eighty-two-game regular season. That's not much separation, but the chasm between the two teams is significant.
The Panthers barely made the NHL playoffs a year ago, but a first-round upset of the Boston Bruins was a springboard to a Stanley Cup Final appearance. They ended the Leafs season during the second round, winning the series in five games.
They followed that surprising run with a first-place Atlantic Division finish this season and are again playing for a title. Thus far, they look determined to take care of the unfinished business from last season's runner-up showing.
The Panthers have great goaltending, depth at forward and defense plus a fantastic coach. The Leafs have super-talented forwards and a whole lot of questions.
Leafs Coaching, Goaltending, and Defense Have Huge Questions
While the Leafs core remains intact (perhaps, not for long), new coach Craig Berube was hired for a fresh approach. His impact won't be felt until next spring when playoff results will determine the success of his addition.
In goal, the Leafs have the intriguing Joseph Woll, full of potential, but with a litany of injuries on his bio. The 2024 free agent cupboard is bare, so the Maple Leafs are looking into trade possibilities.
The Leafs have bounced from Frederik Andersen to Jack Campbell to Ilya Samsonov to Joseph Woll during the Matthews-Marner-Nylander-Rielly era. That's a lot of goaltenders, most of who had a penchant for inopportune soft goals.
Treliving's options are to acquire a top-notch goalie this offseason through trade while relinquishing valuable assets or gambling that some big name netminders reach free agency in 2025.
Choosing to go with Woll and veterans on minimal deals such as Martin Jones is also an option for the upcoming season. It's better than losing important pieces for someone like Juuse Saros.
Trading for Saros this offseason, with only one year remaining on his contract, is a reckless gamble without some assurance that you can sign him to an extension.
By acquiring Jacob Markstrom (a Treliving favorite) the Leafs at least get two seasons from him before he also hits free agency. Then again, he is over five years older than Saros.
Either way, Treliving must get the Maple Leafs goaltending situation sorted out.
Major Additions Needed For the Leafs Defense
Building a solid defense remains the Maple Leafs biggest need. It was their biggest weakness last regular season.
The Leafs entered the playoffs with one of the worst blue-lines out of any team that made it. They were slow, poor at moving the puck, and lacking any star players.
Morgan Rielly leads the Leafs on the blue-line, but he's lucky if he's in the top 20-30 defenseman in the NHL. The Leafs blue-line needs a better number-one, better depth, and better puck-movers.
The current depth chart of Rielly, Jake McCabe, Simon Benoit, and Conor Timmins leaves much to be desired.
A decision must also be made on restricted free agent Timothy Liljegren. The Leafs need two defensemen to join Rielly and McCabe on the top pairings.
Brady Skjei, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov, and Brandon Montour are available this summer. In 2025, Victor Hedman and Aaron Ekblad are the biggest names available, but it's doubtful their current teams will let them go.
The best move is for Treliving to sign at least one of those big-ticket defensemen this summer.
The good news is that the Maple Leafs have many options and flexibility to fix their defense and goaltending. The bad news is that the Leafs have lots to do, and the clock is ticking.
The Leafs Aging Core Heightens the Urgency to Make Correct Roster Moves
The Leafs best players: Matthews, Nylander, and Marner still have plenty of productive, elite years ahead of them, but they have already played eight, nine, and eight seasons of their careers.
Tavares is no longer a game-changing player as he enters his mid-thirties, though it must be said that he has aged well and put up some solid underlying numbers last season that suggest he could bounceback in the final year of his deal.
Reilly is now 30. Roster decisions by Leafs management over the next two seasons will be vital in determining if the Leafs can join the ranks of elite teams.
The next five years is the Maple Leafs most optimal time to achieve a championship. After that, their two most important players, Matthews and Nylander will be on the wrong side of thirty. Reaching the pinnacle doesn't get easier then.
The best moves of Treliving's first season with the Leafs was getting long-term extensions done for Matthews and Nylander. Now, comes the hard part, supplementing the roster around them.
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The decisions he makes over the next two off-seasons will determine the fate of the Toronto Maple Leafs and their title aspirations. The clock is ticking and the window is rapidly closing.