Leafs Nation, get ready for an offseason of significant change.
Once the new GM is in place, they need to totally reshape the Leafs’ blueline, they need to consider trading from a position of strength, as in Toronto’s goaltending depth, and they need to figure out how exactly to keep Auston Matthews in town. Finding a new right winger who he’s familiar with and trusts, would be a wonderful place to start.
Calle Jarnkrok
Jarnkrok somehow appeared in 56 games this season, scoring six goals, and averaging 11:50 of ice-time per game. He was paid $2.1 million AAV throughout his latest deal, and our very own Nick Alberga reports that Jarnkrok doesn’t want to return to Sweden next season professionally, and would like to try and sign another NHL contract. Just don’t expect it to be in Toronto.
Morgan Rielly
‘Mo’ has four seasons left on his contract at $7.5 million AAV, but the biggest factor here is his no-movement clause, and how exactly the conversation is going to go, if the new GM asks him for a list of teams he’d be willing to waive his no-trade protection for. Everyone always assumes west coast to head back to his roots, so perhaps the Vancouver Canucks, Seattle Kraken, or Calgary Flames could be options?
Frankly, if I was Rielly, I’d ask for a trade to the San Jose Sharks. They have an up-and-coming roster, led by superstar Macklin Celebrini, the Sharks have five pending free-agent defencemen on their roster who ended their regular season. They need help, and that could be the perfect place for Rielly to start chapter two of his career. Quiet market, no crazy media, sunny California, with a legit chance at Stanley Cup Playoff action for years to come. Regardless of where, it’s how exactly the deal will be facilitated. The Maple Leafs will need to retain roughly 40-50% of his remaining contract, or add a significant prospect as a sweetener to save some cap space, in order to get Sharks GM Mike Grier to bite. However it materializes, the key ingredient here is the fact Rielly should not be opening next season in Toronto.
Brandon Carlo
It’s going to be very tough to watch Fraser Minten excel during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but a friendly reminder, that’s not Brandon Carlo’s fault at all. However, Carlo is responsible for his play on the ice in blue and white, and throughout the last season and a half, it’s fallen off in the biggest way possible.
Yes, injuries have creeped their ugly heads into the mix of drama as well, but Carlo has never looked comfortable as a Maple Leaf, and the incoming GM needs to strongly consider moving on from the towering right-handed blueliner. Carlo’s signed through next season at $3.4 million AAV, a very reasonable number for a mid-level defenceman, and his modified no-trade clause only covers three teams. Will trade interest be sky-high? Absolutely not, but there’s certainly a chance to get creative on the trade market and package Carlo, with hopes of landing a much more two-way focused defenceman, who can help run the Maple Leafs power play, and more importantly, advance pucks up the ice on a regular basis next season.
Toronto needs more puck-moving defenceman, and if Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jake McCabe, and Chris Tanev are locks to come back, Carlo and Rielly should be the targets to be replaced. Moving Carlo for a bottom-six centre makes some level of sense, especially if it’s going to allow the Leafs to save money on their cap next season, so they can allocate those resources into an expensive top-pair, two-way defenceman.
Nick Robertson or Matias Maccelli
Two of the Maple Leafs’ restricted free-agent forwards, Nick Robertson and Mattias Maccelli are entering uncertain offseasons, but I’d put some decent money on the fact that one of these forwards, will not be back.
With Easton Cowan and Matthew Knies occupying the top-two lines left wing positions, the Maple Leafs don’t need both Maccelli and Robertson heading into next season. They need to reconfigure their roster and balance things out better, and with different styles of play, and having two small wingers returning to likely play bottom-six roles, is something the new GM needs to avoid in a major way.
Maccelli on the other hand reiterated his desire to stay in Toronto, and based on the style of play the new GM wants the team to play, Maccelli’s future hangs in the balance. It took Maccelli a couple of months before he starting feeling comfortable in his first season in Toronto, and he certainly became more productive down the stretch of the season, unfortunately, that was when the outcomes really didn’t matter. While he can pass the puck with the best of them, Maccelli has several holes to his game when it comes to protecting the puck, physicality and work ethic, along with the fact he doesn’t have a spot in the Leafs top six.
When the Maple Leafs open up next season, one of Robertson or Maccelli is likely not going to be suited up.
Anthony Stolarz
The Maple Leafs have one position of strength, and that’s their goaltending depth. However, the best ability is availability, and Stolarz’s durability has come into question. It’s unfortunate that he’s unable to stay healthy for long periods of time, but frankly, that’s been the story throughout his entire career.
At $3.75 million AAV, Stolarz’s new extension kicks in this offseason, and he’s signed through the 2030 season. The towering netminder does hold trade protection, as he can block a trade to half the teams in the league, and with the down season, the new GM will have to get creative to fetch a decent return for the 32-year-old goaltender. Joseph Woll has more trade value, but the Leafs would be very wise to hold onto Woll and move on from Stolarz, even if it means they’ll have to package him to sweeten the pot to facilitate the trade.
Toronto has enough goaltending depth to move Stolarz and be comfortable, there’s also the fact they could sign a veteran to a much cheaper, shorter-term contract and replace the depth this summer once a trade materializes. Yes, Stolarz is a vocal leader in the dressing room, which is rare for a goaltender, however, the Leafs’ dressing room needs to be flipped on its head. Having Woll and Dennis Hildeby as your one-two tandem isn’t the best duo in the league, but it’s loaded with potential and certainly a duo the team could win games with, especially with a better defense core and team structure.
Looking back at the 2025-26 Maple Leafs’ season, it was littered with disappointing, unmet expectations, and a flurry of dismal outcomes. It was a disaster, now the two franchise players are on the mend of asking out, and if the new Leafs’ GM doesn’t hit some homeruns this summer on the trade market, things could quickly go from bad to worse in Toronto.
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