Twenty-one million dollars in a single day. Then more pieces layered on top.
That’s the scale of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ summer makeover under new GM John Chayka, who has spent the past two weeks reshaping the roster in a way that feels almost unheard of in the salary-cap era. Once Nick Paul’s incoming contract is included at a $3.15 million cap hit, the total climbs even higher. Add in Darren Raddysh, Emil Andrae and Gavin McKenna, and Toronto has effectively run through a nine-player, nearly $40 million overhaul.
And yet, for all that movement, the job still doesn’t feel finished.
The Leafs have plenty of forwards signed, Morgan Rielly is still on the roster, and there doesn’t appear to be anything dramatic right around the corner. But the picture is messy enough - and flexible enough - that it’s worth taking stock of where things stand now.
Toronto entered free agency with a pile of cap room. Now it’s over the cap and using long-term injured reserve with Max Domi’s salary there.
That also meant leaving Marlies off the roster, even though there’s room for a Bo Groulx or Zack MacEwen if the need pops up.
There’s also a wrinkle with McKenna’s deal. The cap figure being used right now only includes his base salary, and he could still land entry-level bonuses that either hit this season’s cap or roll into next year. That could matter later if Toronto squeezes every last bit out of its 2026-27 space.
What the Leafs do have is flexibility. A lot of it.
Jack Roslovic, Paul and Colton Sissons can all move between wing and center, while Andrae can handle his off-side on the right. That gives Toronto more lineup options than it had entering last season, and it gives the coaching staff room to shuffle without tearing the whole thing apart.
One area that stands out immediately is the bottom six. A hard-match checking line that can soak up a pile of defensive-zone starts feels like a necessity, and Sissons looks like the cleanest fit in the middle of it.
Paul could fill that role too, but Toronto may want the option to push him higher in the lineup at times. The Leafs now have five grinder-type bottom-six forwards who could fill that kind of job, including Teddy Blueger, Brandon Duhaime, Dakota Joshua and Steven Lorentz.
Easton Cowan is listed on what would be the “fourth” line, but that’s more about structure than limitation. Toronto wants some offense from the bottom six, and the Joshua-Blueger combination showed in Vancouver that it can provide it alongside Conor Garland.
Cowan, though, is more than a depth name. At 21, he could force his way up the lineup and take time away from the Roslovic types on the right side.
The biggest question up front may be how Jim Hiller deploys Auston Matthews and who gets to skate with him. There’s a case for McKenna beside Matthews or John Tavares, but if the Leafs try Matthews with Roslovic, they’ll need a strong passer on the left side. That’s not Matthew Knies.
That opens the door to an 18-year-old carrying a lot of responsibility, but stylistically he may be the best fit right now. If McKenna can make that pairing work over a full season, his numbers could jump well beyond current projections, especially if he lands on PP1. On one of the recent podcasts, prospect expert Scott Wheeler set the over-under for McKenna’s points at 49.5.
The back end remains the part of the roster with the most uncertainty, and it all starts with Rielly. Chris Johnston said on his podcast Thursday that he still sees it as 75-25 that Rielly is dealt somewhere this summer, which would send the Leafs into yet another major shakeup.
There’s plenty of room around the league for a move like that. Roughly half the NHL still has more than $10 million in cap space, and eight teams have at least $18 million.
Some of that will disappear as restricted free agents sign, or sign offer sheets, but there’s still a lot of money out there. That matters because there aren’t many impact defensemen left to sign in free agency, which creates a market for a veteran like Rielly.
If Toronto wants to move him, there are different paths. Rielly could open up his no-movement clause and expand the list beyond the current four teams.
Or another club could get more aggressive in trade talks. The Oilers moving Darnell Nurse’s $9.25 million cap hit should give Chayka confidence that Toronto wouldn’t necessarily need to retain salary or attach a sweetener to make a deal happen.
If Rielly goes, that opens the door even wider for more change. Joshua’s contract is another one that could be moved if the Leafs need more room.
Even then, the most obvious need would still be another top-four defenseman. Ideally, Toronto would add one regardless of what happens with Rielly, because the projected top four still doesn’t look strong enough to handle what should again be a loaded Atlantic Division. And there’s no guarantee Chris Tanev can be counted on in his age 37 season.
Zach Werenski no longer looks like an offseason option, which is a real blow because he would have fit Toronto’s biggest long-running need: a true No. 1 defenseman. Right now, there doesn’t seem to be another top-four blue-liner on the trade block who checks that box, so this may be something the Leafs attack in the fall or even during the season.
What’s clear is that Chayka isn’t standing still. That alone is a major shift from last year, when Toronto completely fell apart and the front office failed to make a single impact move.
Maybe Andrae gets a longer look, maybe Tanev proves he’s fully healthy early, and maybe the urgency eases. But the Leafs are expected to stay involved if any notable defensemen hit the market in the months ahead.
So even after turning over nearly half the roster and 40 percent of the cap space in a short stretch, this might not be the end of the fireworks.
The roster is better than it was a year ago, even with a few moves that can be questioned. Sergei Bobrovsky, McKenna and Tanev all come with major wild-card value at their positions, and there’s real upside in the group as a whole. The real debate now is how much better Toronto can become - and whether that’s enough to push back into contender territory, flaws and all.
One thing seems safe to say: the Leafs won’t be boring.
Their chaos era has arrived.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs May Be Near A Franchise Shaking Morgan Rielly Decision
Morgan Riellys future has become one of the more delicate questions hanging over the Maple Leafs this summer, with Toronto still engaged in trade talks and weighing whether a move can be completed in the near term or pushed deeper into the offseason. Rielly remains on the roster for now, but the club has already started reshaping its blue line, including the addition of Darren Raddysh, as it tries to balance the next step with respect for one of its longest-tenured players.
Rielly still brought offense last season with 36 points in 78 games, but the broader conversation around him has shifted toward fit, value and whether Toronto can find the right return without rushing the process. The Leafs are continuing to talk with teams, and the fact that the discussion is still active suggests this is less about if the organization will make a hard call than when it decides the market is right. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Just Signaled A Major Shift And Camp Feels Wide Open
The Maple Leafs offseason has pointed toward a different kind of team-building conversation, one centered less on chasing individual traits and more on assembling a roster that fits together cleanly. Under John Chayka, the emphasis has shifted toward roles and a balanced spine, a notable change in tone from the way Brad Treliving often framed things around character, toughness, leadership and experience.
That approach has made camp feel unusually open, with very few spots looking truly safe outside the established core. Toronto has depth across the lineup, on the blue line and in goal, and the competition should be fierce from the first day of training camp, especially with Max Domi still working his way back after surgery. For a team trying to define its next step, the real question may not be who is on the roster now, but which players can force their way into it. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Finally Addressed The Lineup Flaw Fans Know Too Well
The first day of free agency brought a noticeable shift in Torontos approach, and it started with the bottom six. Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger and Brandon Duhaime all arrived as the Maple Leafs looked to add speed, defensive reliability and a little more bite to the lower half of the lineup, while the club also brought in another center via trade to give the roster more flexibility down the middle.
For a team that has spent too many seasons with its depth group feeling easy to play against, the change is hard to miss. The Leafs now have more options for a checking role and a clearer defensive purpose in those minutes, which should help shape a more defined identity behind the top scorers. The bigger question is how quickly all of those new pieces settle in and whether this is finally the kind of overhaul that sticks. [Read more 🡒]