Change is in the air.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will look a little bit different heading into next season as roster changes remain inevitable in pro sports. General manager Brad Treliving did his best to upgrade his roster heading into next season, meanwhile several 2023-24 Maple Leafs are off to greener pastures.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at where some 2023-24 Maple Leafs landed in free agency:
Tyler Bertuzzi
After just one season in Toronto, Bertuzzi chose to head to the Windy City and signed a four-year contract worth $22 million, carrying an average annual value of $5.5 million. The exact same amount he received on a one-year deal from Treliving last summer.
Bertuzzi’s new deal carries a modified no-trade clause that starts at 12 teams next season, goes down to 10 and eight teams the following two years and has no protection the final year of his deal. This wrinkle allows for Blackhawks’ general manager Kyle Davidson to have some flexibility should he want to quickly move on from the Sudbury, ON native.
Speaking of the Big Nickel, Bertuzzi recently admitted the Blackhawks weren’t necessarily on his radar until Nick Foligno reached out and mentioned the team was interested in signing the pesky winger to a multi-year contract. After gambling and signing just a one-year deal last summer, Bertuzzi wanted some security on a long-term deal. Mission accomplished as he’ll get a chance to play alongside Connor Bedard on Chicago’s top line.
As for his one season in Toronto, it was somewhat forgettable. Before the season even started Bertuzzi admitted he wasn’t sure how things were going to go because he doesn’t like to be in the spotlight and wasn’t sure with how well he’d deal with the media circus. He overcame the nerves, and a very slow start, and managed to play his best hockey as a Leaf down the stretch and into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The good was being hard on the forecheck, being a presence in front of the net, showing off his vision and the goal-scoring hot streak in March, meanwhile the bad was the high volume of pucks that rolled off his un-taped stick, being a step behind the play a lot, and laughing it up with Brad Marchand when Boston was handing it to the Leafs. Good luck in Chicago, Bert.
Ilya Samsonov
After playing the past three seasons on one-year deals, including back-to-back years in Toronto, Samsonov wanted a multi-year deal on the free-agent market and unfortunately for him, had to settle on a one-year $1.8 million deal with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Samsonov’s 2023-24 season in Toronto was full of ups, downs and in between:
|
Month
|
Record
|
Goals Against Average
|
Save Percentage
|
|
October
|
2-1-1
|
3.99
|
.841
|
|
November
|
2-0-2
|
3.18
|
.905
|
|
December
|
1-1-3
|
4.64
|
.828
|
|
January
|
3-1-0
|
1.48
|
.939
|
|
February
|
6-2-0
|
3.01
|
.888
|
|
March
|
6-1-1
|
2.34
|
.926
|
|
April
|
3-1-1
|
3.80
|
.865
|
|
Stanley Cup Playoffs
|
1-3
|
3.01
|
.896
|
The Russian netminder should be applauded for the way he put in the work and bounced back towards the end of the season, especially in March when everything was clicking. The Stanley Cup Playoffs? A bit of a different story as it’s hard to win a playoff series posting a .896 save percentage.
Treliving chose to spend more money and gamble on essentially a career backup in Anthony Stolarz as Samsonov makes his way to the Vegas strip to battle it out with Adin Hill for the starter’s crease.
Samsonov was beloved by his teammates, he was great with the media and seemed to really enjoy his time in Toronto, he just unfortunately couldn’t repeat his career-best season from 2022-23, and it cost him the chance at a long-term contract with the Maple Leafs.
Joel Edmundson
After leaving quite the mark on the Maple Leafs in a very short period of time, Joel Edmundson decided not to reunite with Craig Berube and signed a four-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings, worth $3.85 million per season. The contract also carries a modified 10-team no-trade clause.
Edmundson was acquired by the Maple Leafs ahead of the trade deadline for a 2024 third-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick. He appeared in nine regular season games at the end of the year and while he didn’t sniff the score sheet, Edmundson brought a physical presence to the Leafs lineup and gave the team some more piss and vinegar that Treliving craved.
Edmundson was solid in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well, and while there was a couple of serious mishaps, especially early on in the first-round series against the Boston Bruins, it wasn’t enough to completely shut the door on a potential return next season. Demanding close to four million AAV certainly had something to do with it though.
Treliving decided to pivot and spend the money ($3.5 million AAV) on Oliver Ekman-Larsson instead, who can have an impact on both sides of the puck and isn’t so one-dimensional to just killing penalties and blocking shots.
The two veteran defensemen do have something in common and that’s their inability to stay healthy. Unfortunately, both Edmundson and OEL have battled injury troubles throughout the past six seasons. We’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out but on the surface level, Toronto decided the offensive upside that Ekman-Larsson brings to the table is much more valuable than Edmundson’s shut-down game.
Ilya Lyubushkin
Speaking of shut-down game, there wasn’t much else that Ilya Lyubushkin brought to Toronto in 2023-24. The Maple Leafs acquired the right-handed defenseman in a three-team deal which cost Treliving a 2025 third-round pick.
Lyubushkin appeared in 19 games in the regular season, playing just over 17 minutes a night, collecting four assists. At times he was playing way too high on the depth chart and alongside Morgan Rielly on the Maple Leafs top pair. Lyubushkin doesn’t have the skating ability and hockey IQ to be effective against the opponents best players and eventually, his warts were on full display.
Lyubushkin moved on this summer and signed a three-year deal worth $3.25 AAV with the Dallas Stars. Somewhat ironic, considering the Stars signed Lyubushkin to try and replace some of Chris Tanev’s minutes after Treliving reunited with his old friend and brought Tanev home to Toronto. Stars fans will quickly see the difference between an elite stopper and a bottom-pair stay-at-home defenseman.
Noah Gregor
When Gregor was at his best with the Maple Leafs last season he was flying around the ice showing off his wheels, hitting everything that moved and unleashing his sneaky quick wrist shot. When Gregor struggled, he was completely unnoticeable on the ice. There seemed to be no in between.
Gregor turned a professional try out into a one-year contract with the Leafs last season and now moves on to the rival Ottawa Senators, inking a one-year $850,000 deal. He appeared in 63 regular season games in Toronto, recording 12 points and also dressed in two of the playoff games against the Bruins.
Gregor indicated he was open to returning to Toronto this summer but unfortunately for him, Treliving decided to pivot into another direction. The Maple Leafs have Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan who are going to battle for depth spots on the roster next season, which certainly tied into pushing Gregor out the door.
Gregor has a good shot at winning a fourth-line role for the Senators as they could use some more of his bang-and-crash style within their lineup.
T.J Brodie
Last season was tough for Brodie on and off the ice but it was great to see the veteran stay-at-home d-man land on his feet with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Brodie followed Bertuzzi’s lead to Chicago and signed a two-year deal worth $3.75 million AAV. The Chatham, ON native will get a chance to battle it out for top-four minutes in Chicago and will likely play a mentor role to some of the Blackhawks young core, including Kevin Korchinski and Alex Vlasic on the back end.
Brodie spent four seasons in Toronto and for the most part was a solid defensive defenseman who killed penalties, blocked shots and could make a first pass. He averaged over 21 minutes a game during his tenure, one that unfortunately ended watching most of the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the press box.
Once Brodie was a healthy scratch for the first time down the stretch and then into the postseason, the writing was on the wall that the team was going to move on. Let’s hope things work out in Chicago as Brodie’s one of the good guys of the NHL.
Honorable mention to John Klingberg, Martin Jones and Mark Giordano who have yet to sign a contract for the 2024-25 season.
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