4 Maple Leafs including Auston Matthews appear on Daily Faceoff’s latest trade board

After missing the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, the Toronto Maple Leafs have spent the first month of their offseason making changes. John Chayka and Mats Sundin lead the hockey operations department, and on Wednesday, it was announced that Craig Berube wouldn’t return as head coach next season.

Once the Maple Leafs name their new head coach, the next order of business will be to decide how they want to construct their roster heading into next season. After finishing the regular season with a 32-36-14 record, last place in the Atlantic Division, it is clear the Maple Leafs need to make adjustments if they want to return to the playoffs.

In a recent article, Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin outlined players that he felt could be on the move this offseason. The article was broken up into four tiers: obvious trade candidates, names to keep an eye on, big stars/big swings, and names to watch based on roster surpluses.

Four current Maple Leafs skaters were listed in the tiers. Anthony Stolarz, Brandon Carlo, and Morgan Rielly found themselves in tier two, while captain Auston Matthews was placed in the third tier.

Last September, Stolarz signed a four-year, $15 million contract extension with the club, set to begin prior to the 2026-27 season. The 32-year-old is coming off a season in which he appeared in 26 games and posted a 10-10-3 record, a 3.28 goals-against average, and 0.893 save percentage.

Stolarz missed over two months early in the season due to an injury, then was once again hurt on April 8, ultimately ending his season. The Maple Leafs have Stolarz, Joseph Woll, and Dennis Hildeby all set to enter next season on the roster, so the Maple Leafs could be forced to make a move this summer. Stolarz has some say in his future as he currently holds a 16-team no-trade clause.

The Leafs have a logjam forming in net between Stolarz, Woll and the emerging Dennis Hildeby, with Artur Akhtyamov also showing promise in the AHL. If you have to move one netminder from the stable: Stolarz is the oldest, the most expensive, has the worst injury history, and has played the poorest of the group this season. Could that make him the odd man out? On the flip side, all those traits might give him the lowest trade value among Toronto’s tenders.

Carlo’s first full season in Toronto was one to forget. The 29-year-old missed 23 games with a foot injury that ultimately became infected and required surgery. When healthy, Carlo struggled, recording only seven points over 55 games. Carlo is set to make $3.485 million next season and holds a three-team no-trade clause.

Mike Komisarek 2.0? Carlo was big, physically imposing, heavy on opposing forwards…until he became a Maple Leaf, apparently. Maybe that’s because he wasn’t healthy, dealing with a foot injury that required surgery after a setback. Or maybe Carlo isn’t cut out for the market. Still just 29, he could return to form in the right situation, and his AAV remains a bargain. He seemingly fit a need for the Leafs a year ago, but now they’re big, slow and redundant on ‘D.’

The longest-tenured Maple Leaf and assistant captain, Rielly’s declining play has been a cause for concern among the team’s fans. Rielly’s speed was a problem in his own zone and was graded poorly alongside his partner, Carlo.

Through 78 games, Rielly recorded 11 goals and 25 assists, finishing with 36 points, the second-most among all Maple Leafs defencemen. Rielly holds a full no-move clause and is under contract with an AAV of $7.5 million until the completion of the 2029-30 season.

The Leafs and new GM John Chayka find themselves in quite the quagmire with Rielly. He’s no longer the puck-moving defenseman they need him to be. He’s not a $7.5-million player despite his scoring contributions and leadership. The team would likely be better off moving on from him – but he controls whether he goes at all via his NMC, and his trade value isn’t particularly high given the performance doesn’t match the price tag.

Moving on from Matthews would be a franchise-altering move for the club. The 28-year-old is still in the prime of his career and is only two seasons removed from scoring 69 goals. In 60 games this season, Matthews posted 27 goals and 26 assists, the lowest point total in his 10-year career. Matthews remains under contract for two more seasons at $13.25 million and holds a full no-move clause.

A report surfaced from The Athletic’s Chris Johnston last week that Matthews, who has two seasons remaining on his contract, wasn’t sure if he’d be back with the team next season. It remains to be seen if winning the NHL Draft Lottery changed his thinking. But if Matthews wants out, the Leafs could sell him for a major haul leading up to the NHL Draft and kickstart a new era centered on probable No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna – plus any other young assets Matthews could bring in. The firing of Craig Berube, whose shutdown-role deployment of Matthews was frequently befuddling, could help sway Matthews toward staying, though Chayka stated Wednesday that no players were consulted on the firing, so it apparently wasn’t an “appease Matthews” decision.

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