The Toronto Maple Leafs are heading into the 2026-27 season with plenty of competition for roster spots, and Dakota Joshua and Anthony Stolarz may feel that pressure more than most. With John Chayka navigating a tight salary cap and a crowd of players chasing NHL jobs, both players can’t afford to stumble out of the gate.
Joshua’s situation starts with the role Toronto expects him to fill. The Maple Leafs have a number of forwards battling for bottom-six minutes, especially after their free agent additions, so he’ll need to prove he can bring the physical edge they wanted when they acquired him.
There is at least one familiar face in that mix: Teddy Blueger, a former teammate from Vancouver. The two clicked quickly there, but if that same chemistry doesn’t show up again, Joshua could become a trade candidate for a draft pick or prospect by American Thanksgiving.
Stolarz is dealing with a different kind of pressure, but the stakes look similar. He’s coming off a rough season, and even with his former teammate Serigei Bobrovsky and trading Joseph Wol l, his spot as the backup is far from guaranteed. Artur Akhtyamov, one of the organization’s top goaltending prospects, is in position to make things uncomfortable if he turns heads in training camp.
That doesn’t mean Stolarz is automatically headed elsewhere. Goaltending prospects usually need time, and Toronto isn’t going to simply hand Akhtyamov a major role. Still, if he shows he can handle NHL minutes, Chayka and Jim Hiller will have a real call to make.
For a team trying to get back to the playoffs, every contract carries weight. If Joshua can’t lock down his place, or if Akhtyamov pushes his way onto the roster, Toronto may be forced into a tough decision before 2027 arrives.
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Canadiens Goalie Battle Is Putting Serious Pressure On One Familiar Name
The Canadiens goaltending picture is starting to take shape, and for the Maple Leafs it is one more reminder of how quickly the margins can shift in a division where every roster decision gets magnified. Montreal appears to be leaning toward Jakub Dobes as its starter with Jacob Fowler behind him, a setup that leaves Sam Montembeault in a precarious spot because of waiver concerns, and it is the kind of internal squeeze Toronto knows well when it comes to balancing talent, timing and roster flexibility.
For the Leafs, the bigger roster conversation is still centered on Morgan Rielly, whose game is being reassessed as the team looks for ways to keep his offense in play without asking him to carry the same defensive burden. The next phase could determine whether he settles into a different sort of role, one that better fits the roster around him, or whether Toronto eventually has to make an even tougher call if that adjustment does not produce the kind of fit the club wants. [Read more 🡒]
Morgan Rielly Trade Talk Just Got A Crucial New Measuring Stick
The veteran defense market is getting a useful reference point in Detroit, where Justin Faulks situation has become one to watch. The Red Wings brought him in at last years trade deadline, but with turnover on the roster and younger players like Axel Sandin-Pellikka pushing into the picture, his place in the long-term plan is less certain than it once looked.
For the Maple Leafs, that matters because Toronto has been monitoring Faulks market as a way to gauge what a veteran blue-liner with a meaningful cap hit can bring back. Morgan Rielly sits in a different category entirely, with four years left on his deal and a no-movement clause, so any conversation around him is more complicated than a simple like-for-like comparison. Still, if Faulk draws real interest, it could sharpen the Leafs view of just how difficult it would be to move a defenseman on Riellys terms. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs May Need To Rethink 3 Big Training Camp Assumptions
Training camp has a way of hardening opinions before anyone has actually seen the lineup in motion, and the Maple Leafs are already carrying a few assumptions into September. John Tavares is often discussed as if his game has slipped badly with age, while Gavin McKenna is being treated like a player who has to be launched straight onto the top line, and Easton Cowan is still mostly viewed through the lens of a winger rather than anything else.
A closer look suggests Toronto may want to slow down on all three judgments. NHL tracking data points to Tavares being less cumbersome than the public narrative says, McKenna could have more room to grow into a role instead of being rushed into the spotlight, and Cowan might be worth a look down the middle if the Leafs want to explore different options. None of that settles the camp questions, but it does make the early roster debates a little more interesting than the usual guesswork. [Read more 🡒]