With training camp around the corner, we’ve examined the Maple Leafs’ depth chart at each position:
Now, we’re going to bring it all together by looking at the training camp battles ahead. While most of the roster is set, there will be internal jockeying for position and some decisions to be made.
The Leafs don’t technically need to trade anyone. They have 14 forwards making at least $1.35M and can afford to roster all of them, plus a seventh defenseman, while still accruing cap space for the trade deadline in the process.
There are a few players who could make camp interesting, and several internal battles among locked-in roster players are worth keeping an eye on.
Roster spot locks
Auston Matthews
There is not much to say regarding Auston Matthews and training camp. He is the 1C.
William Nylander
In the last three seasons, Nylander has scored, 40, 40 and 45 goals. Last season, he was second in the league in goals and doesn’t seem to be getting enough respect for this feat. The only question with Nylander is whether Craig Berube loads him up on the top line with Matthews or has him drive the “second” line offensively, as he has been the past few years.
Matthew Knies
Following a breakout year and a big contract extension, it seems quite likely that Knies will continue to play alongside Matthews. I suppose, in theory, one could argue that if they move Nylander to the top line, maybe they’d consider Knies on the second line for some offensive balance. Either way, he’s a sure-fire top-six forward and top unit power-play lock.
John Tavares
Tavares will center the “second line” or “offensive line” and also be counted on to contribute to the top power-play unit.
Nic Roy
Brad Treliving already spelled out that Leafs brass essentially view Nic Roy as a matchup 3C. Roy has generally shown well with defensive-zone usage, driving the puck up ice from his own end to set the table for more offensively inclined players.
Steven Lorentz
Unlike some of the other players listed below, what you see is what you get with Lorentz. He’ll be a fourth-line staple who occasionally moves up, chips in on the penalty kill, and knows his role.
Chris Tanev
A top-four defenseman, a prime shutdown defender, and a really good penalty killer. The only question with Tanev is how much the Leafs try to preserve him throughout the season now that Brandon Carlo is in the mix.
Jake McCabe
McCabe led the team in time on ice per game last season, and it’s fair to believe he might do it again this season. Either way, he’s a staple in the top four and on the top penalty killing unit, and the coaching staff won’t feel as much of a need to preserve him the way they might with Tanev.
Brandon Carlo
Carlo plays a very similar role to Tanev, and because he’s seven years younger, the Leafs might be inclined to use Carlo to keep Tanev’s minutes in check through the course of an 82-game season. Carlo needs to rebound from his post-deadline stint with the Leafs, and I wouldn’t necessarily enter this season by suggesting he’s definitively one of their four best defensemen overall. That said, he’s right-handed, and by virtue of his handedness, he will be deployed alongside a top-four defenseman and see a lot of minutes.
Morgan Rielly
Rielly takes a lot of heat given his salary relative to his performance the past 1.5 seasons, but he still led the Leafs’ defense in scoring and was second on their defense in time on ice per game in the regular season and playoffs. As long as he’s here and is the Leafs’ best offensive defenseman — which he is — that’s going to continue.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
On paper, OEL is the team’s fifth defenseman, but the Leafs use him as more than a 5D. He averaged 19:04 in the playoffs, one second less than Carlo. The Leafs move him up for offensive-zone faceoffs, deploy him on the power play and penalty kill, and used him in a matchup role alongside Chris Tanev at times throughout last season. We can expect much of the same this season.
Roster spot locks who are battling to play higher in the lineup
Max Domi
You could argue Domi should get the first kick at the can alongside Matthews and Knies on the top line. You could argue he should be on an offensively sheltered second line with John Tavares. Or you could argue he should anchor a soft scoring “fourth” line, as he essentially did for much of the playoffs last spring. Domi’s coming off a down season, like most of the players in this grouping, and needs to reassert himself.
Scott Laughton
Laughton struggled to produce after the trade to the Leafs. The fear is that he receives the “David Kampf” treatment, whereby the organization pays a big price (by trade vs. contract extension with Kampf), then sticks him on the fourth line with players like Steven Lorentz and Michael Pezzetta, while wondering why he isn’t thriving. Laughton is capable of more, but he will likely need to earn his way up the lineup. On paper, he makes sense to me beside Roy in a checking role, but Treliving indicated he might be the 4C.
Dakota Joshua
We know the story by now: big contract year, followed by testicular cancer, returned in November, struggled, and was traded to Toronto for pennies on the dollar. He could fit beside Nylander as a forechecker and net-front presence with just enough skill to bury at a good clip. I think he could also work in a checking/grinding role beside Roy, or he could be a fourth-line energy player who chips in some offense. It’s up to Joshua to show up at camp ready to go and claim a spot higher in the lineup.
Matias Maccelli
Maccelli is another player who struggled last season, but unlike the others, he isn’t a player to consider for a fourth-line role. You could argue his place on any of the top three lines, and he can viably play either wing. The Leafs will want to give Maccelli top-six looks and power-play time, but my main question there: If he plays with Tavares and Nylander on a hypothetical second line, who forechecks? There’s a clear lineup domino effect from the first decision of whether or not Nylander is moving up to the top line.
Bobby McMann
From the time that McMann broke out with his hat-trick against St. Louis in 2023-24 up until the Four Nations break last season, he scored 30 goals and 42 points in 77 games. That tied him for 58th overall in the league during that time frame, outproducing a few players who just signed big contracts in Brock Boeser and Nik Ehlers. However, his production fell off to end last regular season, and he didn’t score at all in the playoffs.
Heading into a contract season, which McMann are we getting? I’m inclined to believe he’s closer to a legitimate goal scorer than an energy player who struggled as the grind of his first full NHL season wore on. Last year, a poor camp/preseason led to a healthy scratch to start the regular season. With top six spots clearly up for grabs, McMann has the speed/size/shot to take hold of one, but he’ll need to rediscover his form.
Simon Benoit
Benoit had an up and down second year with the club, but he had some big moments in the playoffs and is signed for this season plus the one after. He’s going to be on the team. But with five veterans up above him and some depth defensemen behind him, he’s going to have to win his top-six spot because he is the only logical defenseman that other players can come after. In all likelihood, he will get the proverbial first kick at the can of playing on the third pairing, but by the Leafs own admission, they need more puck movement, and OEL on the right is not ideal. As long as Benoit’s here, he’s a lock to be on the NHL team, but his spot as a regular is up for some debate.
NHL players who could be trade candidates
Nicholas Robertson
Robertson ranked seventh on the team in goals last season with 15. With Mitch Marner departed, along with the Leafs adding no real surefire goal-scoring bets, it’s entirely reasonable to think that Robertson could finish as one of the Leafs’ six best goal scorers if he plays a full season in 2025-26. If nothing else, Robertson can put the puck in the net, and he’s slated to be the second youngest player on the team behind Knies. The Leafs are mindful of that fact and clearly don’t want to give up on the youngster who can score for nothing.
However, where does Robertson fit? Can he start on a fourth-line energy/goal-scoring role? Can he somehow steal a spot alongside Tavares? Those seem like the only two options, knowing he shouldn’t be in a checking role beside Roy.
Calle Jarnkrok
Jarnkrok played his first game of the 2024-25 season on March 3 and never really settled in. Even still, he played in 12 of 13 playoff games for the team and was a legitimately good penalty killer. Jarnkrok has a few more things going for him than he gets credit for — namely, he is a good penalty killer, he can be counted on to score double-digit goal totals over a full season, he’s solid defensively, he’s low maintenance, and he’s one of only three right-handed forwards on the roster. Handedness matters.
However, we’ve already listed 11 forwards as locks, and Robertson is 23 years old. If he doesn’t crack the top 12, are they okay with that? There are almost always injuries, and one year of $2.1 million for Jarnkrok isn’t that bothersome to me, but we’ll see if it is palatable for the Leafs.
David Kampf
At worst, I’d still rate Kampf as the Leafs’ fifth-best center and arguably a better 4C option than Laughton in terms of defensive usage at five-on-five (plus, I think Laughton is better on the wing). But if we take Treliving at his word and pencil Laughton in as the team’s 4C, where does it leave Kampf? They can only put on a brave face and view Kampf as quality depth — which he is — for so long when he’s making $2.4 million against the cap for this season and next. That’s too much money and term for a regular healthy scratch.
Programming Note: Part 2 will examine the bubble players and dark horses at Leafs training camp
