Fresh Sheet

There’s very little to talk about right now.

There are still rumours about Jack Roslovic and the Leafs, which don’t make a lot of sense to me. Yes, Roslovic can add some scoring depth, but where he fits in the lineup is unclear, as is how much it would cost to sign him and why he is even still available.

I feel that if he is signed we’ll be talking about how to dump his contract before the holiday trade freeze. Instead, I believe the better path would be to run with what they have to start the season, while keeping an eye on next season’s crop of high end UFAs. If any of those players become available toward the deadline, it would be great to have as much capspace and flexibility as possible. The list of stars that aren’t signed past this coming season includes Connor McDavid, Kirill Kaprizov, Jack Eichel, Kyle Connor, Martin Necas, Artemi Panarin, Alec Tuch, Adrian Kempe and Rasmus Andersson. Some “second tier” players include Nick Schmaltz, Anders Lee and former Leafs greats Michael Bunting and Mason Marchment. The fact of the matter is that few, if any of these players will make it to July 1st, 2026, but having the capspace to trade for one if they can’t find common ground with their current teams would certainly be wise.

One position where the Leafs could look to add would be between the pipes. While they have Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll in the NHL, with Artur Akhtyamov and Dennis Hildeby (unsigned RFA) in the AHL and Vyacheslav Peksa in the ECHL, they could use a depth piece to help in case of injury. There aren’t many options left on the open market, but Spencer Martin, Louis Domingue or Chris Dreidger could fill the need for a veteran presence in the minors, while also being able to step in for the Leafs if they’re desperate.

I hope you’re all enjoying your summer so far. While I don’t want to nice weather go, I’m excited to see how the team reacts to the changes this summer brought when the season begins.