The version of the Toronto Maple Leafs that hits the ice for the 2025-26 NHL season will look different than the team that skated off the ice at Scotiabank Arena in dejection following their latest Game 7 postseason loss to the Florida Panthers.
The most notable change for the Maple Leafs was the sign-and-trade of Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights. Toronto selected Marner with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 Draft and had played his entire career with the team. In return for Marner, the Maple Leafs received forward Nicolas Roy.
While the Maple Leafs were able to re-sign forwards John Tavares and Matthew Knies to new contracts, the departure of Marner fits into what general manager Brad Treliving described as the need for changes after they once again failed to advance deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“There will be change moving forward. That's just the nature of the business,” Treliving said via NHL.com. “We've got to find a way to create the team, both between the ears and personnel, to be our best at the critical moments.”
That being said, there are still players on the current Maple Leafs roster who likely don't fit into the team's long-term plans and could be prime candidates to be traded.
Maple Leafs trade candidate #1: Nick Robertson
Perhaps the most talked about Maple Leafs forward when it comes to a potential trade at some point in the coming months is forward Nick Robertson, a former restricted free agent who recently agreed to a one-year contract extension for the upcoming 2025-26 NHL season.
Despite his new contract extension, Robertson isn't off the trade block. NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman stated recently that Treliving still has plenty of work to do before the puck drops, and that some of that work could be moving players.
“The Maple Leafs have to clear some bodies there,” Friedman said on an August episode of his popular '32 Thoughts' podcast. “There’s a lot of them.”
“I definitely think the Maple Leafs have work to do here. I don’t know what their timeline is, but nobody expects them not to do things before puck drops, that’s for sure.”
Robertson skated in 69 games for the Maple Leafs last season, tallying 15 goals with seven assists. He also contributed a goal with an assist in three postseason games.
Maple Leafs trade candidate #2: Calle Jarnkrok
Speaking of players who are only signed for another season, Calle Jarnkrok fits that bill. He originally joined the Maple Leafs as a free agent in the summer of 2022 after having split the previous season between the Seattle Kraken and Calgary Flames, inking a four-year, $8.4 million contract.
However, his last two seasons with the Leafs have been hampered by various injury issues. He's been limited to only 73 combined games over the last two seasons, raising questions about his durability. He also went scoreless in 12 postseason games this spring.
Jarnkrok's contract carries a reasonable $2.1 million cap hit.
Maple Leafs trade candidate #3: Bobby McMann
It may sound a bit controversial to want to trade a player who just potted 20 goals for the Maple Leafs last season, but if he were to continue that kind of production into the upcoming season, Bobby McMann would understandably want a reasonable raise on his current $1.35 million salary cap hit.
Despite his 20-goal season, McMann failed to find the back of the net during the playoffs. He had also gone scoreless in the final 20 games of the campaign. He also saw his ice time dip under coach Craig Berube.
