The Maple Leafs kept trimming the roster on Thursday, sending Ben Danford and nine other players to the Toronto Marlies while also loaning Tinus Luc Koblar back to Sweden.
Toronto’s latest round of moves included assignments to the AHL for Artur Akhtyamov, Ken Appleby, Noah Chadwick, Ben Danford, Luke Haymes, Samuel Hlavaj, Miroslav Holinka, Jacob Quillan, Landon Sim, and Blake Smith.
Koblar was sent to Rögle BK of the SHL, where the forward prospect will keep developing overseas and, as the source material notes, likely get another shot at making the club in 2027-28.
The roster shakeup leaves the Maple Leafs with 49 of 50 contracts on the books, opening the door for PTO invitee Nick Blankenburg to potentially be signed to a standard NHL deal.
There are a few players in the group with some NHL experience, including Quillan and Akhtyamov, but most of these names are familiar Marlies regulars. The younger prospects - Chadwick, Holinka, Haymes, and Sim - remain in the pipeline and will keep pushing for spots down the road.
All of this moves Toronto a step closer to its 2026-27 roster picture. The forward group is basically set, while the defense is still being sorted out as the team weighs Troy Stecher, Emil Andrae, and Blankenburg for the sixth spot on the blue line.
With just four days left before the team has to submit its roster to the NHL, there wasn’t much time left for extra looks. The Leafs are also dealing with injury questions around Nick Paul, though that situation is expected to sort itself out by opening night. For now, the roster churn is simply another sign that Maple Leafs hockey is getting closer.
In Other News...
Leafs Decision On Dennis Hildeby Suddenly Looks Worth Revisiting
When the Lightning claimed roster space for Dennis Hildeby by waiving Jonas Johansson, it offered a fresh reminder of how close the Leafs came to losing the young goalie for nothing. Hildeby was once part of Torontos pipeline, then moved to Tampa Bay in the deal involving Nick Paul and draft picks, a swap that helped reshape both clubs depth charts. At the time, Toronto had settled on Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz as its goalie tandem, leaving Hildeby expendable and vulnerable to the waiver wire.
Now, with Hildeby getting another look in Tampa Bays system, the old Toronto decision doesnt look quite as tidy in retrospect. The Leafs clearly prioritized their present crease situation, but the pathway they chose meant giving up a goaltender with some value at a point when he still could have been lost without any return at all. It is the kind of organizational fork in the road that doesnt always matter until a player resurfaces elsewhere and forces the question back into view. [Read more 🡒]
Gavin McKenna Is Forcing A Bigger Maple Leafs Question Than Expected
Gavin McKenna has spent Maple Leafs preseason looking every bit like a prospect who belongs in the conversation, and that has made Torontos evaluation a little more interesting than expected. The 2026 first-overall pick finished the final exhibition against the Ottawa Senators with an assist and a plus-3 rating, and across the preseason he stood out in the areas Toronto tends to value most, piling up the kind of zone entries, offensive-zone possession and slot passes that suggest real play-driving ability.
The catch, of course, is that all of it came in exhibition games against lineups that were not quite NHL regulars. Even so, McKennas ability to tilt the ice has raised the sort of question teams like to have but do not always expect this early: how long can the Maple Leafs afford to keep a player performing this well in a role that is still only a preseason sample, and what does that mean when the games start to count? [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Leave Preseason With One Encouraging Sign And One New Concern
The Leafs closed out the preseason with a 6-1 win in their final exhibition game, and coach Jim Hiller came away with a couple of clear takeaways from the night. Gavin McKenna looked improved in his second preseason game, while Easton Cowan continued to show the kind of versatility that can make him useful in different roles as camp winds down.
Jim Hiller also addressed Sergei Bobrovskys performance in net, but the bigger question coming out of the game involved Nick Paul. His status is still uncertain, though it is not believed to be serious, and the team is expected to know more the following day. For a group trying to leave the preseason feeling settled, that is the kind of update that can linger a little longer than a win usually does. [Read more 🡒]