5 key items on the Maple Leafs’ to-do list

The Maple Leafs started off the week with a less than enthusiastic response to their management team announcement. I’m not sure if anything has changed in regard to those opinions, but there was a swift adjustment in positivity around a club that seemed determined to keep Auston Matthews and William Nylander as cornerstones of their plans moving forward. The draft lottery win goes a long way in a retooling becoming a viable option for the Maple Leafs. It’s still an uphill battle but the organization is now able to move forward in a contending in 2026-27 model now that most likely a top six forward has fallen into their lap.

With that victory in mind, here are the key items on the Maple Leafs to-do list.

1. Auston Matthews

It’s still a lot to expect to know where Matthews is at in regard to future with the Maple Leafs. Like everyone else, he’s probably feeling a lot better about the team with a first overall pick talent joining the locker room next fall. That doesn’t change the fact that both Matthews and Nylander were vocal about the team’s need to upgrade, and while it isn’t out there publicly, Matthews’ opinion of the coaching structure of the team should matter a lot as he is the team captain.

It’s likely the draft lottery win has created enough uncertainty with Matthews and the Leafs that the easiest thing is to just run it back next season and have another tough conversation in the summer of 2027 but at the same time if Matthews’ mind is already made up about wanting to leave, the Leafs are better off actioning it sooner rather than later even if the draft has created some optimism.

2. Sort out the coaching situation

Let’s take everyone at their word that they believe that Craig Berube is a great coach. The question needs to be whether he is a great coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs and do Matthews and Nylander buy into Berube as a great coach.

Do they believe that he is the right coach to develop either Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg? And knowing that you can only make so many trades and make so many upgrades through free agency, is he as well as his overall staff the group that can fill in the talent gaps with systems or get players to play beyond what they have previously achieved in the NHL. Craig Berube doesn’t seem like that guy, nor do Mike Van Ryn and Derek Lalonde seem like they have elevated any of the Leafs players in meaningful ways. If John Chayka and Mats Sundin discover through their talks with players that there is some hesitancy about this group, it’s time to remedy it before the coaching market is completely picked over.

3. The blueline really is the focus now

Gavin McKenna (in all likelihood) is the Marner replacement the Leafs needed and his price is right too. That takes away the biggest need for the Maple Leafs up front and addressing roster holes downstream in the forward group rather than a gaping hole at the top of the lineup is a blessing that this organization may not have deserved.

The priority is now the need for at least two top four defenders and possibly a third if the Maple Leafs are serious about contention and not just squeaking back into the playoffs. The blueline is old and other than Jake McCabe the reliability of the group is questionable.

Chris Tanev’s health and age mean that he’s at best a nice to have option in the top four if he’s still at that level but at 36 years of age and 11 games played last season, penciling him into even a second pairing would be reckless.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Morgan Rielly are other downstream options that shouldn’t see a top pairing assignment but could add value in better managed utilization. Moving on from both of them might be the best course of action if there is a replacement available, but it comes down to whether Morgan Rielly can be moved at all with a full no movement clause, and it’s possible that the Maple Leafs see Ekman-Larsson as someone they still see value in at his price despite his age also being north of 35 at the start of next season. There is the potential to gain an asset out of Ekman-Larsson and moving on from him is the easier play, while expecting Rielly to adapt to more of Ekman-Larsson’s previous role as the fifth defenceman who gets called to play up in the lineup as injuries require.

Brandon Carlo, Simon Benoit, and the rest are your potential sixth defensive options. Carlo, like Rielly might have the potential to be a bright spot if the right partner emerges.

Mario Ferraro and Rasmus Andersson are the two names in free agency that stand out the most as fixes for the Maple Leafs. Neither might be the flashy puck moving options that Toronto has been calling for but both represent all around upgrades that could stabilize the position while getting marginally younger. Other options like Timothy Liljegren and Nick Blankenburg could be interesting to consider on the puck movement side of things as well.

Ben Danford’s readiness for the NHL is uncertain but has the potential to factor into how improved the Leafs blueline could be in October.

4. Cashing in the trade chips

Ekman-Larsson’s season has potentially created a situation where he is more valuable to the Leafs as a trade chip than as a player. The same might also be true of Matias Maccelli and Nick Robertson. Despite their down years, the reputations of Anthony Stolarz and Brandon Carlo might also benefit the Leafs into either turning these players that are not necessarily roster fits for the Maple Leafs into either draft picks that can be allow for future transactions or the Leafs might be able to pull off actual hockey trades for them as well.

Trading the draft picks that the Maple Leafs currently hold shouldn’t be part of the equation. The 2027 1st that the Leafs acquired for Nic Roy allows the team a safety net in case this isn’t a glorious rebound back into the playoffs, and trading picks doesn’t have the advantage of opening up space in the lineup or NHL roster.

5. Part ways with the bad fits

Whether Nick Robertson or Brandon Carlo are fits on the Maple Leafs lineup will depend on who is coaching the team in 2026-27, but if it is Craig Berube, neither player is a fit and it is likely time to move on.

Less dependent on who the coach is, the depth chart and ability levels likely point at Max Domi and Dakota Joshua being players that the Maple Leafs need to move on from even if it means taking a bit of a hit on the cap or paying to unload contracts in a trade.

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