As the activity around the NHL moves fast and furious, we will wrap up the forward portion of our free agent series with a look at some bottom-six options.
So far, we’ve dug into the top six forwards of interest, where there is some value and much-needed scoring pop. We also looked at the center group, which produced a mediocre collection of names and is a position the Leafs would ideally address via trade.
Even still, the Leafs will need to fill out the rest of their roster. Unless they trade them away, all we can really say about the bottom six at the moment is that Dakota Joshua and Steven Lorentz are in it. Jacob Quillan is an RFA and will likely get a long look. When John Chayka was asked about centers, he noted:
We also feel like there are some players in our pipeline who are interesting as well. We want to make sure we are also considering internal candidates as we canvass different options.
It would make sense to acquire one center via trade while giving Quillan first crack at filling the other spot. Bo Groulx’s name keeps popping up, but he wasn’t even playing center for the Marlies during the playoffs, and when he was with the Leafs, he won under 38 percent of his faceoffs. He should get a chance to make the team, but it’s hard to envision why it should be as a center.
My ideal path sees the Leafs sign one of the top-six forwards mentioned, trade for a center of consequence, and promote Quillan. That would leave one bottom-six forward spot open for grabs, with a lineup configured something like this up front:
Knies – Matthews – Nylander
Cowan/1st overall pick – Tavares/C trade – UFA (Arvidsson/Zuccarello)
Joshua – Tavares/C trade – Cowan/1st overall pick
Lorentz – Quillan – _____
Groulx
The center trade is obviously critical here, and you could argue for simply putting Joshua on the fourth line and signing a UFA to play on the third line. I have accounted for that here as well with some of the options listed below.
Of note, there were two additional players I didn’t name but felt were worth mentioning. The first is AJ Greer, whom I quite like as a big-bodied winger who is strong defensively and can chip in some offense. But with Joshua and Lorentz already on the team, he feels redundant. You can’t possibly have all three of those players on the same team. If they trade one, sure—Greer would be on this list. But I am not assuming that’s happening.
The other is old friend Ilya Mikheyev. He checks a lot of boxes—extremely fast, an excellent penalty killer, and a strong checking forward who can chip in offensively. But reports are surfacing that he wants $5M+ with term, and that is simply too much. He’s a really nice player who would help, but that number is over the top.
You can also make a case for other RFAs in Nick Robertson and Matias Maccelli. Short of signing a top-six forward, you might need the scoring depth from one of them. It’s also why I didn’t consider players like Eeli Tolvanen—I am not convinced he is a clear upgrade over the Leafs’ internal RFA options.
Noel Acciari
2025-26 season: 67 games, 13 goals, 25 points, 13:42 TOI per game, 48.54 CF%, 51.63 xGF%
2026 Playoffs: 6 games, 0 goals, 1 point, 14:00 per game
AFP Projected Contract: 2 x $2.19M
Level of interest: Moderate — like the player, but wary of his age
Things to like:
If the Leafs want to give Jacob Quillan a long runway at center to start the season, Acciari is exactly the type of player I would target to not only support him in that role but also provide insurance. Acciari is a quality checking winger who is strong defensively and can penalty kill, but he can also move over to center if necessary.
Acciari is a career 51.4% in the faceoff circle, and considering Quillan struggled there, he would provide help on the dot, where they could also switch based on handedness/the faceoff location. As we’ve noted throughout the series, the Leafs simply lack right-shot options, which works as a plus for Acciari compared to other options on the market.
Acciari has four double-digit goal seasons. He isn’t going to bring much skill, but he forechecks well, gets to the net, and has chipped in offensively as a result. A fourth line of Lorentz–Quillan–Acciari would make sense on paper. They wouldn’t be a Jordan Staal–esque shutdown line, but they have the skillsets in place to take on some matchups each night, handle defensive-zone draws, support a young center, and provide strong penalty killing. Acciari and Lorentz, in particular, might be able to form a formidable PK duo.
Acciari is the rare player who gets absolutely buried defensively — just a 15.1% offensive-zone faceoff percentage last season — yet still manages to even out possession and chances by driving play up ice.
Causes for concern:
Acciari was a good, serviceable player in Toronto after they acquired him as part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade, but that was three years ago. He’s now 34 and will turn 35 in December.
He posted the lowest hits-per-game mark of his career at 0.97, when he had only been under 2.0 once before. I don’t necessarily care about hit totals in isolation, but it does raise the question of whether the physical toll is starting to catch up to his body and affect his play. His bread and butter has been a physical forechecker who hits everything that moves. He has never been fleet of foot, so I don’t expect a major drop-off in that area, but he does fall into the category of “you can’t get faster as a team if you don’t sign faster players.”
Acciari also had a bit of a contract-year spike, recording his third-highest points-per-game and second-highest goals-per-game seasons. He had a similar contract-year bump the last time he was up for a deal, then proceeded to do very little until he was in another contract year. The two-year projected term and salary are not prohibitive, but ideally you’d get him on a one-year deal, even if that means slightly overpaying for it.
Brandon Duhaime
2025-26 season: 82 games, 4 goals, 9 points, 11:04 TOI per game, 45.83 CF%, 48.91 xGF%
AFP Projected Contract: 2 x $1.87M
Level of interest: Moderate to high — a good checker at a good age who checks some boxes for the Leafs
Things to like:
Duhaime is essentially an alternative to Acciari. He is not as strong defensively as Acciari, cannot play center like him, nor is he a right shot. What he does offer is that he is six years younger and much faster.
Duhaime can play right wing, and that speed makes him a good fit beside slower wingers like Lorentz or Joshua on a checking line. Ideally, you want some pace alongside those players. He is also a reasonable penalty killer.
He uses his speed to get in on the forecheck, where he’s physical — finishing second in hits on Washington in each of the last two seasons. Last season, he also had eight fights, which was not just a contract-year spike; he had 10 the year before and seven the year prior to that.
He is a simple, meat-and-potatoes checker, but the Leafs were one of the worst defensive teams in the league last season and lacked that type of player. Duhaime knows his role: check hard, be physical, and bring energy.
Causes for concern:
Duhaime is 29 and has effectively proven he cannot produce offensively. His career high in goals is nine (done twice), and his career high in points is 21.
This past season, he played all 82 games and scored just four goals and nine points, which is really low for a veteran with over 375 NHL games before the age of 30. The AFP projection feels high even with a rising cap, and I would only want him on a one-year prove-it deal. Even a two-year term doesn’t make much sense to me.
Jaden Schwartz
2025-26 season: 50 games, 11 goals, 26 points, 16:08 TOI per game, 45.14 CF%, 43.24 xGF%
AFP Projected Contract: 2 x $4.76M
Level of interest: Moderate — still an effective player, but aging and in decline
Things to like:
You could argue Schwartz is still effectively a top-six forward. He produced over 0.5 points per game last season, and the year prior, he scored 26 goals and 49 points in 81 games.
A player like Schwartz in the bottom six would be a luxury. If he were the only scoring winger added by the Leafs, he might even end up in the top six. I’ve included him here because he fits nicely in a third-line role, and with his projected contract, he would be a useful player who can move up the lineup when needed.
Schwartz is solid defensively and still capable offensively — he has a great shot. If a player like Cowan or the Leafs’ first overall pick isn’t ready for the top six, Schwartz would be an ideal linemate in a softer role.
He is a Cup-winning veteran with over 850 games played, 550 points, and 102 playoff games. That is exactly the type of quality veteran you can confidently pair with a young kid. Beyond that, he is simply a good player who can fit almost anywhere in the lineup.
Causes for concern:
The question is how long Schwartz will remain a good player. The 34-year-old was injured last season, and Father Time is undefeated.
He posted some of the worst underlying numbers of his career last season, though Seattle was also a poor team, and he also finished with the lowest offensive-zone start rate of his career at 44.7%.
That suggests he doesn’t excel as a checker, so how would the Leafs configure their lines? He would not solve a checking-line need — he is more of a middle-six scoring winger who is an honest and solid player defensively.
Schwartz falls in the “not fast or big” category, which will be a drawback to some, but on the right short-term deal, he is still good enough to justify the fit.
Jeffrey Viel
2025-26 season: 45 games, 3 goals, 10 points, 11:56 TOI per game, 53.37 CF%, 48.59 xGF%
2026 Playoffs: 12 games, 2 goals, 4 points, 12:10 per game
AFP Projected Contract: 1 x $1.1M
Level of interest: High if that is the deal
Things to like:
After three years in the AHL through his mid-to-late 20s, Viel got another NHL opportunity and made it count. He became an effective fourth-line player for Anaheim, culminating in a first-round playoff series where he spent more time on the ice against Connor McDavid than any other Oilers forward and sawed off those minutes 1–1.
Viel is a good skater, physical, and a willing scrapper. He has also developed into an effective checker, making him an interesting low-risk bet for a fourth-line checking role alongside someone like Lorentz.
His playoff performance makes it hard to see why Anaheim wouldn’t retain him at that number. He will likely get more than one year and potentially more money. If he reaches the market at that price, it is a no-brainer. Even a two-year term, with a slight increase over the projected number, would be reasonable.
Causes for concern:
At that price, there are essentially none. The only downside is the lack of a long NHL track record. He has effectively had half a strong season and is already 29.
While it’s a manageable contract, there are ramifications within the lineup when you trust a player for a specific role only to find out he was only a flash in the pan.
Kasperi Kapanen
2025-26 season: 41 games, 8 goals, 17 points, 14:35 TOI per game, 45.86 CF%, 46.88 xGF%
2026 Playoffs: 6 games, 4 goals, 6 points, 17:53 TOI per game
AFP Projected Contract: 3 x $3.1M
Level of interest: Moderate — like the player, but hesitant on a three-year term
Things to like:
Kapanen is still one of the fastest players in the league and a right-shot forward with familiarity in the Toronto market. As noted throughout the series, the Leafs lack right-shot depth throughout the organization, so adding one who instantly becomes the fastest player on the team checks a few boxes.
He is also a reasonable defensive player who can generally be relied on for double-digit goals (or pacing for it) and a 20+ point pace. That gives you a useful bottom-six forward who brings a few different elements to the lineup.
Kapanen played some of the most productive hockey of his career in Toronto, including minutes alongside Auston Matthews. While he would not be brought in for that role again, having a forward who can move up the lineup in a pinch and not look completely out of place is valuable within a roster.
More likely, Kapanen would slot in alongside someone like Joshua or Quillan on a fourth line that can skate and chip in some secondary scoring. We’ve generally considered checking options alongside Quillan, but if the Leafs can build a better checking line higher in the lineup, it would help Quillan develop alongside more offensive support.
Causes for concern:
Kapanen turns 30 in July and has had durability issues in recent seasons, playing just 41 games last year and 57 the year before.
Dating back to his time in Toronto, he had some maturity issues and spent time cycling through the league as a result, including multiple waiver placements. He is coming off a one-year, $1.3M contract. I am not sure if this is a player I’d want to sign to a three-year term; while I believe he has grown and matured since his days in Toronto, he still feels like a player better suited to short-term deals to keep him hungry and in line.
Depending on how the Leafs configure their lineup, Kapanen is also a bit of a tweener — not quite good enough defensively for a dedicated checking role, and not quite productive enough for a true scoring line. That makes the overall roster construction especially important when considering the fit.
