Maple Leafs 2025-26 roster decisions: Who stays and who goes this offseason?

New York Times

28-05-2025

By Jonas Siegel, Chris Johnston, Joshua Kloke and James Mirtle
It's that time of year for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The time when GM Brad Treliving and his front office must decide who will be a Leaf next season — and who won't.
Here we put on our prognosticator hats and suss out where everybody stands.
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Matthew Knies: Coming off a 29-goal season, the top-line winger has been mentioned prominently as an offer-sheet candidate this summer. However, it's hard to see the Leafs letting it get to that. Knies is viewed internally as an important part of the team's present and future — a big, powerful player who still has room to grow into a more complete contributor. It's worth noting that the Leafs didn't want to part with him when his name was tossed out as part of trade conversations with the Carolina Hurricanes about Mikko Rantanen at the deadline. Knies is also eager to stay in Toronto, with the only real question being whether he gets a long-term second NHL contract or a shorter bridge deal.
Auston Matthews: It was a deeply frustrating season for the Leafs captain, basically from start to finish. Hurt in training camp with an undisclosed upper-body injury, Matthews clearly wasn't himself for long stretches of 2024-25, and his goal production dropped by more than half (from 69 to 33) while missing 15 games. He expects to be 100 percent by the fall, which would be a big boost for Toronto, given that not all the stars will likely return. Matthews turns 28 in September and has three years remaining on a contract with a full no-movement clause. He's not going anywhere; the Leafs simply have to hope he's back to the player he was before this troubled campaign.
Jake McCabe: With a five-year contract extension that McCabe signed in October about to take effect, he's not going anywhere. McCabe spent much of the season forming a strong defensive pairing with Chris Tanev and profiles as one of the team's key figures entering next year. If anything, the Leafs did well to lock him up early, given how challenging it would have been to find an adequate replacement on the open market. McCabe's new deal features a full no-trade clause for the next two seasons.
William Nylander: All told, Nylander put together a strong season. He led the Leafs with a career-high 45 goals during the regular season and topped them with 15 points in the playoffs. Like others, he needed a much punchier finish to the second round against Florida. Nylander turned 29 at the beginning of May. Next season will be the second of the eight-year extension he signed with the Leafs early in 2024.
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Oliver Ekman-Larsson: The big Swede was one of the Leafs' pleasant surprises this season, logging minutes (21:04 per game, third among defencemen) all over the blue line — playing on all three pairs, on LD and RD, power play and penalty kill. He will turn 34 this summer, but after a career maligned by various injuries, he looked like a new player. On a reasonable contract that pays just $3.5 million for three more seasons, OEL is a keeper.
Anthony Stolarz: Just a quick reminder, Stolarz's .926 save percentage was tops in the NHL among goalies with at least 30 games played. If the Leafs can get a similar level of shot-stopping and swagger from him over, say, 50 games next season, his $2.5 million contract could become one of the best in the league.
Chris Tanev: Tanev deserves an entire summer split between an ice bath and a beach far away somewhere after the amount of pucks and pain he ate in his first season in Toronto. He is equal parts a rock and a warrior on the Leafs' back end and is the kind of defenceman no NHL team would say no to. It wouldn't be surprising for him to wear a letter next season.
Joseph Woll: Next season, Woll will begin the three-year extension ($3.66 million cap hit) he signed with the Leafs last summer. He figures to split the net once again with Stolarz.
Simon Benoit: Benoit had an effective playoff run for the Leafs, with moments when he looked like one of the team's better defencemen. And for the low, low price of just $1.35 million next season, it seems likely that Benoit will be back in Craig Berube's top six. The only way it might not happen is if a young blueliner steps up and steals his job in training camp. Even then, those odds feel low.
Brandon Carlo: Even if he wasn't at his best in the playoffs, Carlo is still a 6-foot-5 right-shot defenceman who can quiet things down to a whisper in his own zone. And with two years left on his contract — with the Leafs only on the hook for a $3.485 million cap hit — Carlo provides the stability the team covets on its back end.
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Pontus Holmberg: There isn't a good reason for the Leafs not to qualify the pending RFA this summer and keep him around next season. (Holmberg does have arbitration rights.) He has real offensive limitations, yes, but he's versatile, low-maintenance, young-ish and able to play just about anywhere in the lineup in a pinch.
Scott Laughton: Yes, Laughton's two goals in 20 regular-season games and zero goals in 13 playoff games sting. Yes, he didn't play as well as he would have hoped after being traded to his hometown team at the deadline. But yes, after an offseason to feel more comfortable on just the second team of his NHL career and to get his young family settled in Toronto, it's a safe bet for him to emerge in a more prominent role next season. Playing into the third line for just a $1.5 million cap hit would be a boon for the Leafs, too.
Bobby McMann: McMann had a super disappointing finish to the season, failing to score or contribute much of anything in the playoffs. This comes after a regular season that saw him pop with 20 goals but also struggle to perform consistently. McMann turns 29 in June. At this point, he feels more like someone better suited for third-line duty, which is totally fine for the $1.35 million cap hit he'll earn in the last year of his contract next season.
Philippe Myers: At best, he'll be the Leafs' seventh (and possibly, eighth) defenceman for the next couple of seasons thanks to the two-year extension ($850,000 cap hit) he signed in January. He performed more than adequately in that role last season.
Ryan Reaves: Will Reaves be a Leaf next season? It's hard to rule it out completely given how highly he's regarded in the dressing room — and of course, that he still has one year left on his three-year contract. Reaves played AHL games for the first time in more than a decade this past spring, and on merit, that's where he belongs next season. It's just a question of whether the Leafs will make that choice or keep him around as a 12th or 13th forward.
Morgan Rielly: It was a bumpy first season for Rielly under Berube, and the fit between player and coach moving forward remains a tad awkward. With that said, Rielly has five years left on a contract that carries a full no-movement clause. The Leafs could try to force his hand with a trade, but there's been no indication that he has any interest in playing anywhere but Toronto.
John Tavares: All that matters to Tavares at this point in his career is chasing the Stanley Cup, and he doesn't believe there's anywhere better to do it than Toronto. Working in his favor is the fact that he's coming off an extremely productive season with 38 goals and 74 points, and he helped ensure a smooth transfer of the captaincy to Matthews last summer. He's been a good and loyal soldier. Given the needs the Leafs have down the middle, there's every reason to believe that Tavares remains in their plans. However, the devil is in the details and there's going to be some work required on both sides of the table to find common ground on a new contract.
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Max Domi: One obstacle to moving Domi: His 13-team no-trade clause. The other: The three years remaining on a contract that comes with a $3.75 million cap hit following arguably the worst season of his career. Domi can be an effective player when he's engaged and making good decisions. That didn't happen enough last season. He remains a difficult player to slot into a winning lineup. Is there a problem-for-problem swap out there for the Leafs?
David Kämpf: 50/50 might be high for both Kämpf and the player who comes after him. Kämpf sat for most of the postseason, playing just one of 13 playoff games, and his $2.4 million cap hit is money that could be better spent on talent higher up the lineup. We'll see how the centre position shakes out after free agency, but there are a lot of teams that want more help down the middle, and after his July 1 bonus, Kämpf is only making an average of $1.73 million a season the next two years of his deal. It should be moveable, even with a 10-team no-trade clause to work around.
Calle Järnkrok: Järnkrok at least played the majority of the playoffs and seems to be more valued by Berube than Kämpf. But he'll be even easier to move, given that only $775,000 of his salary will be left after a July 1 bonus. Järnkrok's $2.1 million cap hit for one more season is too rich if he's going to be playing as a no-offence checker the way he was deployed this past season.
Steven Lorentz: A man who embodies 'The Passion' was everything the Leafs could ask for, and more, as a depth forward who came to training camp on a tryout and signed for the league minimum. Lorentz wound up being a mainstay in the lineup and an upbeat personality in the dressing room. He also lived out a childhood dream by playing for his favorite team, which certainly opens the door to a second season with the Leafs. However, the fourth liner may also benefit from the 'Toronto bump' and find more lucrative opportunities awaiting him elsewhere in the free-agent market.
Matt Murray: While it might make sense on paper for the Leafs to make Dennis Hildeby the undisputed Marlies' No. 1 goalie, that would also theoretically make the 23-year-old the Leafs' No. 3 goalie. And after a season that saw both Woll and Stolarz go down with injury and Hildeby put up a tough .878 save percentage in his six NHL appearances? That might be too onerous a proposal for the Leafs.
That's why bringing Murray back feels like an option to consider. He accepted his role as the mentor, a No. 3-type who didn't play as much with either the Marlies or the Leafs as his peers. Dependable veterans who live behind the break-in-case-of-emergency glass are still in demand in the NHL. The Leafs will likely feature this type of player. You could do a lot worse than a two-time Stanley Cup winner who is still just 31.
Nick Robertson: The Leafs control his rights as a restricted free agent, but it's difficult to see how things move forward after another year where Robertson couldn't crack the lineup at the most important time of year (he dressed for 3 of 13 playoff games). Robertson requested a trade last summer and is still believed to be open to a fresh start elsewhere. The 23-year-old has arbitration rights this summer, which can force the hands of the team if it isn't willing to make a bigger commitment to the player than it has in the past. Robertson has scored 29 goals across the last two regular seasons — 26 of them coming at even strength.
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Mitch Marner: After being unwilling to engage in substantive extension talks with the Leafs during the season, and batting away management's request for him to waive his no-movement clause at the March trade deadline, Marner is ready to explore what's out there for him on July 1. Coming off a career-best 102-point season, he appears set to become the NHL's highest-profile player to hit the open market since Artemi Panarin in 2019. While Marner may not have fully closed the door on a return to Toronto just yet, it's difficult to see a scenario where the Leafs would find it palatable to outbid the league's other 31 teams to retain his services. And even if they were, it feels like Marner is clamoring for a change of scenery after enduring nine seasons of heavy scrutiny in his hometown.
Jani Hakanpää: The cruelest twist of a trying season may have come at the end, when doctors cleared Hakanpää to play just days before the Leafs were eliminated by the Florida Panthers. The 6-foot-7 defenseman was still recovering from a significant knee procedure when he signed with the Leafs last summer, but this was not how he or the team saw things playing out. Hakanpää wound up only being healthy enough to dress for two NHL games, plus another two in the American Hockey League, while spending the rest of the year grinding through rehab work and conditioning skates. Hakanpää maintained a healthy attitude throughout and seems inclined to try and continue his playing career, but it's hard to imagine the Leafs taking another gamble on him.
Max Pacioretty: A second act in Toronto is not impossible, but consider it unlikely. Pacioretty did bring a lot while battling injuries much of the year, including an inspiring postseason where he produced eight points in 11 games. But he turns 37 in the fall and his body has been through a lot. Most importantly, however, Pacioretty spent the season away from his five children, which was very hard on the family man. That will be a key factor in determining whether he returns to Toronto.