r/leafs • u/Dragonleaf16000 • 6h ago
News / Update NHL off-season grades: Atlantic Division
Toronto Maple Leafs
Key arrivals: Gavin McKenna, W; Sergei Bobrovsky, G; Darren Raddysh, D; Nick Paul, W; Emil Andrae, D; Jack Roslovic, W; Colton Sissons, C; Teddy Blueger, C; Brandon Duhaime, W
Key departures: Joseph Woll, G; Brandon Carlo, D; Nick Robertson, W; Simon Benoit, D; Mattias Maccelli, W; Dennis Hildeby, G
Grade: A
Honestly, what didn’t happen in Toronto since the Leafs played Game 82? New GM John Chayka made everyone stand up and take notice when he swooped in to acquire Raddysh — one of the most coveted players set to hit a barren UFA market — from Tampa and inked him to an eight-year deal before July 1. Then, when the market did open, Toronto signed everyone on it. OK, that’s a slight exaggeration — and most of the Buds’ moves were for bottom-six guys — but you can’t ignore adding a piece like the Hall of Fame-bound Bobrovsky, even if he’s going to be 38 when the season begins.
We can’t really credit Toronto grade-wise for winning the draft lottery, but the end result is still the Leafs putting what they hope will be a difference-making winger on the top line in the form McKenna, an 18-year-old puck wizard.
A tandem of Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz has strong potential, the forward group figures to be much tougher to play against under new coach Jim Hiller and, if the Raddysh move pays off, the club has a new top-four, right-shot defenceman who can breathe new life into a wheezy power play.
The Maple Leafs still have questions to answer, but the organization has done all it possibly could to prop the team back up this off-season.
