New Toronto Maple Leafs blueliner Darren Raddysh spoke to the media for the first time on Monday, as the club got an early jump on the trade market last week with the deal for the right-handed defender with Tampa Bay and sending goalie Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit to Philadelphia for defenseman Emil Andrae, goalie Samuel Ersson and a 2026 third-round pick. The big moves inside the Atlantic Division occurred over the weekend, as the Ottawa Senators sent team captain Brady Tkachuk to join his brother Matthew and the Florida Panthers.
Apart from the Leafs selecting Gavin McKenna first overall, there appear to be a number of things on GM John Chayka’s plate that could occur in the days leading up to the draft in Buffalo, including some potential moves involving the goaltending. After the trade of Joseph Woll, Toronto appeared to be settling in on an unspectacular combo of Anthony Stolarz, Dennis Hildeby, and Ersson, with Calder Cup winner Artur Akhtyamov as the goalie who could go back and forth from the AHL to the NHL because of waiver exemption, but according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs could be looking for help outside of the organization.
Leafs Goalie Hunting??
On Monday’s 32 Thoughts podcast, Friedman indicated that the Leafs may not qualify Ersson (who is a restricted free agent) and that he could be a low-cost option for the Florida Panthers. Toronto is intent on being competitive next season, and that would mean a potential upgrade between the pipes.
That means checking in on the potentially available veteran goalies, including Stanley Cup winner Jordan Binnington (who is entering the final year of his contract with St. Louis), multi-Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck (who is rumored to have requested a trade out of Winnipeg), and two-time Cup winner Bobrovsky, who may be pricing himself out in Florida.
Friedman references connections to former teammates Stolarz (who backed up Bobrovsky in Florida’s 2024 Cup run) and winger Steven Lorentz, and that as a UFA, the 37-year-old will only cost the Leafs cap space and not assets. The only concern with Bobrovsky is that he is past is sell date. Last season, he had a .877 save % and 3.07 GAA in 52 games for the Panthers, who finished out of the playoffs because of injuries to key players, including team captain Aleksander Barkov and Tkachuk.
He also indicated that Chayka is sitting on other moves that could alter Toronto considerably next season, but that a deal involving Matthew Knies appears likely to occur only if the Leafs receive an offer that blows them away. From a variety of reports, the Leafs have received significant interest in the 23-year-old winger, but they do not feel any pressure to move him, which means they are waiting for a deal they cannot turn down.
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