Toronto’s offseason already has a crowded feel to it, with Sergei Bobrovsky, Darren Raddysh, Jack Roslovic, Nick Paul, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, Emil Andrae and Gavin McKenna all added to the mix. Even so, there’s still room for the Maple Leafs to keep poking around for forward help, and a professional tryout is the kind of low-commitment move that can uncover one more useful piece.
With training camp getting closer, four names stand out as possible PTO targets.
Reilly Smith is the safest veteran bet on the board. His 2025-26 numbers in Vegas dipped to 16 goals and 26 points in 69 games, but that came after three straight seasons of 40-plus points.
He also has a Stanley Cup ring from the Golden Knights’ 2023 run, and at 35, he may simply be a case of age and fading production pushing him into the unsigned pool. He’s not walking in as a top-line answer, but nearly 1,000 NHL games give him real value as depth insurance.
As a bottom-six winger, he’d fit, especially since he made only $2 million last season. If a team wants him to come in cheaper, a PTO starts to make sense.
Patrik Laine is the swing-for-the-fences option. He’s also the one with the biggest question mark attached.
A rough, injury-shortened run in Montreal left him with only five games last season, and that has dragged his market value down to the point where a low-cost, incentive-heavy “prove-it” deal feels possible. The latest buzz has the New York Islanders interested on a PTO basis, and Toronto could follow that same path.
If it works, the upside is obvious: Laine has already shown he can score at an elite clip. Put him with Auston Matthews and William Nylander, or give him a sheltered job with power-play time near young scorers like Gavin McKenna and Easton Cowan, and the assignment is simple - shoot the puck.
If he stays reasonably healthy and chips in 15-20 goals, even with most of that coming on the man-advantage, it would be worth a look in camp.
Evgenii Dadonov is the quieter veteran option, but there’s a case for him too. His 2025-26 season with New Jersey was ugly, producing just one goal in 24 games, which won’t help him much as an unrestricted free agent.
But that line on the stat sheet comes one year after he posted 20 goals and 40 points. Dadonov has cleared 20 goals five different times, so last season could easily be the outlier.
A PTO would carry almost no downside for Toronto: if he looks sharp, he becomes another experienced bottom-six option; if not, the club moves on without consequence. At 37, he’s probably not in line for a strong contract anyway, so he may simply wait for a camp invitation from a team he prefers.
Michael Bunting brings the most familiar Toronto connection. His two seasons with the Maple Leafs were the best of his career, with 23 goals and 63 points in 2021-22, then another 23 goals and 49 points in 2022-23.
A lot of that damage came while skating with Auston Matthews, and over those two years he piled up 112 points. Since then, he’s moved through Carolina, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Dallas without finding that same level again, though he did score 13 goals last season in Nashville.
A cheap one-year reunion would make sense for both sides. Bunting would get a chance to rediscover what worked in Toronto, and the Leafs would get a physical, high-energy winger who could also move back up beside Matthews if the chemistry is still there.
In Other News...
Leafs Fans Just Got A New Reason To Watch Erik Karlsson
Erik Karlssons future in Pittsburgh is already starting to look like one of the more interesting side stories of the season, and it has a natural pull for Maple Leafs fans watching from afar. Josh Yohe of The Athletic laid out a simple path forward: if the Penguins are not in the mix as the season wears on, the veteran defenseman could become a trade piece, while a stronger-than-expected Pittsburgh run could keep the situation quiet for a while longer.
For Toronto, the intrigue is obvious because the Leafs have at least been mentioned as a possible team to watch if Karlsson ever becomes available, alongside Ottawa. Even then, nothing moves without the players say, and the Penguins also have to weigh whether it makes sense to hold onto an aging, expensive defender for the rest of the year and simply let him walk afterward. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Just Hit A Familiar Wall In Fantilli Pursuit
Adam Fantillis strong recent play has only sharpened the interest around him, and the 21-year-old remains unsigned with offer sheet chatter following close behind. For a Maple Leafs team that would love to add a player with that kind of upside, the appeal is obvious, but the path to getting there is anything but simple.
Toronto is already $2.75 million over the cap, and even a serious run at Fantilli would require clearing a significant amount of space while also rebuilding the draft-pick inventory needed to make the paperwork work. Any offer sheet would have to be carefully structured around the compensation rules, and the Leafs would likely need to move money out of the roster first, with contracts such as Morgan Rielly, Dakota Joshua, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev standing out as the kinds of pieces that would have to be considered before this idea could become more than a long shot. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Roster Overhaul May Have Made One Scoring Problem Worse
Torontos offseason makeover was supposed to reset the roster after a disappointing 2025-26 campaign, and the front office did make notable changes by adding defensemen Darren Raddysh and Emil Andrae along with goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. But the bigger question hanging over the Maple Leafs is whether those moves actually address the problem that hurt them most last season, when the offense slipped badly after Mitch Marners departure and the team finished 16th in the NHL in goals for.
The concern now is that Toronto may have shuffled pieces around without truly restoring the scoring punch it needs for 2026-27. Auston Matthews is still the obvious place to look for a bounce-back, and the Leafs will need more from the players already in the room as well as the newcomers if they want to keep pace in a tighter Eastern Conference race. The issue is not just whether Toronto got better on paper, but whether the goals that walked out the door can be replaced by enough reliable production from the names left behind. [Read more 🡒]