Leafs Still Contemplating Roster Moves

The Toronto Maple Leafs season is fast approaching, with their rookies playing against the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens youngsters on Saturday and Sunday, and their main training camp opening next week. In spite of their lack of movement since early July, it is still quite possible that the Leafs will be making some roster tweaks leading to the beginning of the regular season on October 8th vs. Montreal.

At the moment, the Leafs have just over $1 million in cap space, but that could be considerably more based on how many forwards they choose to carry when the cutdown to 23 players (or less) occurs after the last exhibition game against Detroit in early October. Toronto is overloaded with bottom-six forwards after the additions of Dakota Joshua and Nicolas Roy. Center David Kampf was not utilized by head coach Craig Berube late last season and into the playoffs, while winger Calle Jarnkrok played mostly a fourth-line role. Nick Robertson once again played limited minutes, but still managed a career-high 15 goals.

The big question to be answered at training camp is who will take the right wing spot on the top line vacated by the departure of Mitch Marner, alongside Matthew Knies and Auston Matthews. Barring any changes, the leading candidate is Max Domi, who played on Matthews wing late in the season and in the playoffs two years ago, and who has been fairly unproductive playing center in the two years with Toronto. Newcomer Matias Maccelli and rookie Easton Cowan are also possibilities, but expecting either to step right into Marner’s spot is unreasonable and a long shot.

One possible option that appears to be in the realm of possibility is the signing of free agent forward Jack Roslovic. The 28-year-old is still unsigned after scoring a career-high 22 goals with Carolina last season, and there has been chatter since July that the Leafs have interest in the former Winnipeg first-rounder. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicated on Vancouver radio’s Donnie and Dhali show earlier in the week that Roslovic could be in the mix for some teams looking for center depth.

The prospect of playing on Matthews wing for a year or two, to put up some good stats, may be a factor in why the Ohio native is still an unsigned free agent in mid-September.

The likelihood of Toronto bringing in Roslovic may be tied to them clearing out one of Kampf, Jarnkrok, or Robertson. Kampf would be the most difficult of the three to move, since he has two years left at a $2.4 million cap hit, but there are teams such as Pittsburgh with a cavernous hole under the salary cap in 2026 that adding his salary would not be a concern, but former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is not going to do that for free.

Jarnkrok was useful in the playoffs as a role player, and with his expiring contract, he could be someone that gets moved later in the season if he proves he can stay healthy.

The easiest to move may prove to be Robertson, who just turned 24 on Thursday. He should be attractive to a number of clubs with his scoring ability, his low salary ($1.825 million AAV) and that he is retainable for multiple years. It is clear that he is not a stylistic fit with Berube’s Leafs, and TSN’s Chris Johnston, on his podcast with Julian McKenzie, indicated that a Robertson trade is quite possible.