Four Key Moves The Maple Leafs Should Make This Summer

The Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated Friday in their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Florida Panthers. And it was clear that changes have to happen for the Leafs this off-season. Let’s take a look at what they should and shouldn’t do.

1. Do NOT trade Auston Matthews.

It’s been one year since Matthews won the NHL’s Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player, and somehow, in the heat of the moment of Toronto’s playoff exit, there are people who are advocating trading Matthews. This is insanity. Please, go look at NHL history, and you’ll discover that most teams hang on to their top players for as long as possible. This should be true for Matthews, who has been catered to by the franchise, and who benefits greatly from being in a hockey-mad market.

It will be interesting to see what health issues Matthews was dealing with this year. He didn’t look like himself in stretches of the season, but he also showed he still had his terrific instincts, and he improved on the defensive side of the game. He didn’t produce much against Florida, but Matthews is still the best player on the team. You don’t trade your best player. Let’s nip this trade-Matthews nonsense in the bud.

2. Deal with the goaltending issues.

The salary-cap-challenged Leafs need to free up some cap space this summer. At present (and via Cap Friendly), Toronto has approximately $7.45 million in cap space, and that’s not enough to keep the roster as deep as it was this season. But if they buy out veteran Matt Murray, they’d open up a couple million. Every dollar counts next season, and Murray has not been the contributor Toronto GM Kyle Dubas has hoped he’d be.

Youngster Joseph Woll will be the No. 2 goalie for the Leafs next season, and restricted free agent Ilya Samsonov will be the starter. That’s a more dependable tandem for the Buds, and there’s no good reason to retain Murray.

3. Re-sign Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Schenn.

The two veteran players Toronto targeted and acquired via trade before the March 3 trade deadline both delivered on expectations. O’Reilly was injured for a stretch of time, but when he was on the ice, he gave the Leafs more edge and more veteran knowhow. He’s an unrestricted free agent who may return to St. Louis, but O’Reilly enjoyed his time playing closer to home, and it’s entirely possible Dubas ponies up enough money and term – maybe $4 or $5 million per season, for two or three years – and brings back O’Reilly for a full year in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Schenn was terrific in his brief return to the organization. He’s not going to demand a ton of money – he earned just $850,000 this season – but Schenn could get a slight raise from the Leafs and stick around for a couple of seasons. He made that a worthwhile possibility with his play in Blue and White.

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4. Improve the defense.

Dubas bolstered his defense corps at the trade deadline by landing veteran Jake McCabe, but there is going to be more change on the blueline for Toronto this summer. Toronto does have six D-men under contract, and likely won’t bring back Justin Holl. But by retaining Schenn, the Leafs would have an all-around better defense in 2023-24, and any extra cap space Dubas can find should be allocated to adding another above-average defenseman.

Morgan Rielly had a terrific post-season, and he’ll remain a key component of Toronto’s blueprint for success. McCabe, T.J. Brodie, Timothy Liljegren, Mark Giordano and Connor Timmins are signed through next year, and that group could use a little more size and edge. That’s Dubas’ chief challenge this summer.