Are the Maple Leafs Preparing for a Big Move Before the Season?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to open training camp with $1.9 million in cap space, a full 23-man roster, and a forward group reshaped by the departures and arrivals of key players. With Mitch Marner gone, general manager Brad Treliving wasted little time reshaping the lineup, adding Nicolas Roy, Matias Maccelli, Dakota Joshua, and Michael Pezzetta. The result is a deeper, more versatile group that doesn’t have the star power it once did, but one that gives head coach Craig Berube new options.

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It also creates questions about whether the Leafs are done making moves.

Some analysts believe there might be one more move in Treliving’s back pocket. To that end, Treliving made it clear in a conversation with The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun that the Leafs may not be done tinkering. His comments suggest Toronto is keeping its options open for another move, potentially even before the season gets underway.

Don’t Expect That Move to Be Imminent for the Maple Leafs

“We’ve got some new players to integrate,” Treliving said. “Obviously, we are going to be a little bit different. But I’m excited. We’ve got a lot of bodies right now, and that’ll sort itself out… If you can find a way to make yourself better, I think you do that all the time — leading up to camp, throughout camp. At this stage, we’ll probably go in as we are right now. But who knows, right? We’ll continue to look.”

The Leafs, eliminated by the eventual champion Florida Panthers in Round 2 last spring, may be following in their footsteps this season. Instead of adding more this summer, Toronto may add later in the year. “We do have some cap space. But we want to see how things play out, at least getting into camp, and then you’ve got three weeks before the real bullets start flying. But yeah, we certainly continue to look at whether there’s ways to help us.”

Florida made several in-season moves — including a blockbuster deal for Brad Marchand and the trade for Seth Jones — to put their roster over the top. Treliving acknowledged the Leafs could do something similar, using camp and the early weeks of the season to evaluate before pouncing on an opportunity.

With some cap space available, a couple of players still being shopped, and expectations high, speculation will only grow about what the Maple Leafs might have up their sleeves.

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