The Maple Leafs have spent a lot of the summer talking about size, edge and making life miserable for opponents. Fair enough. After another disappointing regular-season finish, the message from the new management group is pretty clear: this team had to change.
But there’s another part of Toronto’s reshaped roster that deserves more attention. The NHL EDGE data points to a group that may bring more offense than people are giving it credit for, especially from the back end and from several key forwards.
Darren Raddysh is the name that really pops. Toronto brought him in to be an offensive defenceman, and the numbers suggest that role could fit.
Last season, Raddysh led the league with 97 shot attempts of at least 90 miles per hour. Evan Bouchard was next at 51.
Toronto’s entire defence, by comparison, had just 34 such attempts.
That gap says a lot about where the Maple Leafs were a year ago. Their blue line produced only 28 goals last season, fifth-fewest in the NHL, and the team’s defencemen combined for just 132 points, the second-fewest in the league.
Raddysh scored 22 goals on his own, with 10 coming on the power play. He also led the NHL with nine long-range goals.
No one should pencil him in for another 22-goal season. But Toronto didn’t add him for his lowest possible outcome.
They brought him in because his shot changes the shape of the ice. A defenceman who can threaten from distance forces penalty kills to respect the point in a way Toronto simply hasn’t had for a while, and that can make the power play look a whole lot different.
The forward group has its own layers, too. John Tavares continues to be dangerous around the crease, while Auston Matthews still creates elite high-danger and mid-range chances whenever he’s on the ice.
Matthews missed 22 games last season, but even with that lost time, he ranked in the 96th percentile among forwards for high-danger shots on goal. Tavares was also among the league leaders in high-danger shots on goal and goals.
Those two don’t need a makeover. They need health, and they need the puck in the spots where they’re at their best.
Matthew Knies keeps pushing himself into that same conversation. He posted a career-high 66 points last season and landed in the 96th percentile among forwards for high-danger shots on goal. That’s the sign of a winger who isn’t just bigger and stronger - he’s getting to the dangerous areas and finishing his work there.
Jack Roslovic is another piece worth watching, especially if he gets a look next to Matthews and Knies. Last season, Roslovic was in the 93rd percentile among forwards for 20-plus miles per hour speed bursts and in the 83rd percentile for high-danger goals.
It’s a combo that makes sense on paper: Matthews supplies the threat, Knies works the net front, and Roslovic brings pace. Whether it clicks is a camp question, but there’s enough behind it to justify the idea.
William Nylander, meanwhile, was exactly what William Nylander usually is. He put up 79 points in 65 games and his EDGE profile matched the production: 97th percentile for high-danger goals, 94th percentile for long-range shots on goal and 94th percentile for maximum skating speed.
So the bigger question for Toronto may not be whether there’s enough offense here. There should be. The real issue is whether this new construction can still produce when the games tighten up.
Raddysh gives the blue line a different weapon. Matthews and Tavares remain dangerous in the middle.
Knies is rounding into a more complete scorer. Roslovic adds speed.
Nylander is still Nylander.
That’s a strong collection of talent. Now the Maple Leafs have to make it matter when it counts.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs May Have Found A Prospect They Desperately Need
Tinus-Luc Koblar is starting to look like the kind of prospect the Maple Leafs have been hoping to uncover, and his first season with Leksands IF in the Swedish Hockey League is giving Toronto a useful early read on his game. At 19, he is already facing older professional competition, and that kind of assignment tends to tell you plenty about whether a player is simply filling a developmental slot or actually pushing forward faster than expected. For a late second-round pick, that kind of growth curve is especially encouraging.
What makes Koblar stand out inside the Leafs' prospect pool is the mix itself. Toronto does not have many young players who combine size and skill in one package, which is part of why the organization is keeping close tabs on him this season. He is still early in the process, of course, but the fact that he is producing while adapting to the pace and physical demands of pro hockey has put him on a more interesting track than most players his draft slot usually follow. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Just Made A Bet Fans Will Instantly Compare To Makar
The Maple Leafs have added a big piece to their blue line picture, signing defenseman Darren Raddysh to an eight-year deal with an $8.5 million annual cap hit. It is the kind of contract that immediately invites comparison across the league, especially with Colorado locking up Cale Makar on an eight-year extension at a far higher number, even if the two players sit in very different places on the rsum spectrum.
For Toronto, the bet is less about matching superstar value and more about betting early on a defender who just delivered a breakout season and could grow into the role the contract demands. The cap implications matter here, because long-term deals at this level shape how a team can build around them, and the Leafs are clearly making a roster-construction choice that says as much about belief in Raddyshs trajectory as it does about the price of defense in todays NHL. [Read more 🡒]
Leafs Fans Will Have Strong Feelings About Who Gavin McKenna Is Around
Gavin McKennas summer in Muskoka has already given Maple Leafs fans something to talk about, with the clubs top prospect spotted spending time alongside several NHL players, including former Leaf Mitch Marner. For a young player trying to map out his next steps, that kind of company can be meaningful. It also puts McKenna in a familiar Toronto conversation, since any link to Marner tends to come with both optimism and a little baggage.
On the ice, McKenna still has areas to sharpen, especially in his defensive game, which stands in contrast to the strengths Marner built his reputation on in Toronto. That is part of what makes the association interesting for Leafs observers: there is obvious upside in learning from a proven NHL talent, but there is also the lingering discomfort of seeing one of the franchises biggest recent departures around the organizations newest hope. For now, it is just a summer detail, but it is the kind that tends to stick with this fan base. [Read more 🡒]