The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have a ton of cap space to play with, but they still have a few areas they can improve in their lineup. The club can look internally at some players but also has some excellent options still available on the open market that they can sign to a professional tryout contract (PTO) to help bolster their roster for the 2023–24 season.
Max Comtois
Maxime Comtois is a very unique name still on the open market. He still has a lot left to prove, and on a team that tends to win more games than the Anaheim Ducks, he may realize his potential. He also has some size to his game; he is 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds and can play with a physical edge when needed. In 2021–22 with the Ducks, he had 111 hits, which was a career-high. This is an area where the Maple Leafs have improved this season, which is why the fit makes sense for a PTO. Another reason this makes sense and has a lot of upside is that he needs to reinvent his game, and Toronto can provide that opportunity. He has lacked a lot of scoring and, in turn, confidence. His career-high in points is 33, which came in 2020–21. He has struggled a lot since then and hasn’t been able to break 20 points.
However, the 24-year-old can turn that around in one season, especially on a team like the Maple Leafs. He could see himself slotting into the third line alongside players like David Kampf and Max Domi, or even on the fourth line with Pontus Holmberg and Ryan Reaves. Either way, there is a lot of talent on this Maple Leafs team that can help him find his confidence and re-establish himself as an everyday NHL player. For both parties, signing a PTO could be a smart decision. Comtois gets a chance to revitalize his career with a contending team, and the Maple Leafs get to see what he can offer them before signing him to an official contract.
Ethan Bear
Ethan Bear could be a very viable option for the Maple Leafs; he is a young right-handed defenceman that could benefit from playing in a winning market. The Maple Leafs lack NHL-ready bodies after their six defenders, which could make Bear and Conor Timmins the perfect seventh and eighth defencemen for the team. Bear, 25, has had a tough career thus far; he has spent five years in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Vancouver Canucks, where he has only scored 63 points in 251 career games. Although he doesn’t score too often and doesn’t hit a ton, he does block a good amount of shots. He blocked 106 shots in 71 games in 2019-20 with the Oilers, which was a career-high. He also had 16 points in 61 games with the Canucks last season.
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It is not necessary for him to score 100 points, block 150 shots, or record 100-plus hits for Toronto to keep him in the lineup; all he needs to do is do the little things when he is on the ice and perform them well enough to stay there. The Maple Leafs could sign him to a contract that is comparable to the one that Caleb Jones signed with the Hurricanes, which was a one-year deal paying $775,000. This was a solid deal for a depth defenseman with a ton of NHL experience. However, the first step would be to sign him to a PTO and see how he performs during training camp and the preseason.
Josh Bailey
Josh Bailey, a longtime friend of current Maple Leafs’ captain John Tavares, could be the best fit for the Maple Leafs with him still on the open market after being bought out by the New York Islanders. He is an experienced NHL player who has had tons of playoff success during his time in the league. He is also a 15-year veteran who can provide the younger core of the Maple Leafs with a wealth of knowledge. In those 15 years, he has played 1,057 NHL games and recorded 580 points; however, with Toronto, he would be a depth player that could contribute at least 25–30 points on the third line.
If the Maple Leafs sign Bailey to a PTO and he has a good training camp, they could reward him with a contract somewhere around $1 million or less for a season. This move would make their forward group deeper and more talented. Although he’s 33 years old, he can still be a productive player at the NHL level. He would strengthen the third line alongside Domi and Kampf and give the club the option to move him to the middle and use him as a centerman.
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There are a few more players that could be of interest to the Maple Leafs on a PTO, such as Derek Grant, Adam Erne, and former Leaf Zach Aston-Reese. However, right now, the focus remains on trying to get a deal done with both Auston Matthews and William Nylander. But, as soon as the calendar flips to September, Brad Treliving and his management team have to start gearing up for the start of training camp, and that is when Leafs Nation will see who he has an interest in signing to a PTO, and it wouldn’t be shocking if one of these three were on his list.
