Next Steps for Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs: Offseason Moves Before Opening Night
The Toronto Maple Leafs and GM Brad Treliving have some moves to make before the 2024-2025 regular season opens up and it could make or break the season.
With the 2024-2025 regular season fast approaching, and fans anticipate how the Toronto Maple Leafs will fare this season, a lot of the moves made by GM Brad Treliving should bring success to a team that is desperate for playoff success and win a Stanley Cup for the first time in 56 years. The additions of Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jani Hakanpaa to the blue line, Max Pacioretty, and Steven Lorentz to the offensive corps and securing a premier backup in Anthony Stolarz: The Maple Leafs look as ready as ever.
But there are still questions revolving around the finality of the roster and who is eventually going to stay with the club and who unfortunately gets relegated back to juniors or the AHL. The group that lined up for practice on Monday was one that is seemingly the roster being put out for opening night, minus John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok who are still nursing injuries; the exceptions being Easton Cowan, who has suited up so far in every preseason game for the Maple Leafs, and Nikita Grebenkin, a player who made an impact in his first game but has been quiet since; Berube wants to give him an opportunity to shine still.
The roster situation heavily depends on what Toronto wants to do with their cap situation. They are currently $1M over the cap limit and need to get that number down eventually; while also trying to sign Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz off of their PTO's to official standard contracts.
They could put Jani Hakanpaa on LTIR but with his return being sooner rather than later, they may hold off on it if they deem Hakanpaa is healthy to start the season. Monday's practice also saw William Nylander line up on the wing instead of center , which may have signaled his center experiment was over but both he and head coach Craig Berube put the kibosh on that; stating that Nylander was just getting more reps so he can be slotted around when necessary. Berube spoke on the switch earlier on Monday:
Nylander echoed the sentiment of his head coach, and also related that he really isn't concerned with where he lines up on the ice, but that he just wants to play and help Toronto exorcise their playoff demons:
"It's no big deal. It's no big deal. Wherever I end up playing, it doesn't matter."
Toronto has a few options if they wanted to shed some cap space. Calle Jarnkrok, David Kampf, Timothy Liljegren and Connor Timmins are all names which could improve teams while also giving Toronto flexibility in their salary situation. They could place Hakanpaa on LTIR as previously mentioned but it would almost feel like a waste of money and time if Hakanpaa sits when he is able to play, and Toronto would be down an elite shutdown defenseman for no reason. It would be best for Treliving and the Maple Leafs to put out the best possible team, regardless of being a fan favorite or a slow, plodding 37-year old forward (though they might need him for their season opener against Montreal) but otherwise, the Maple Leafs can't risk any liabilities on their Stanley Cup journey.
The Toronto Maple Leafs open up their season on Oct. 9th against the Montreal Canadiens; a game that will be as heated as ever and it's important that Brad Treliving, Craig Berube and the Maple Leafs make the right decisions about who they put on the ice; anything else will feel like a failure.
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