Toronto Maple Leafs' Offseason Departures Not Named Mitch Marner - The Hockey Writers - Toronto Maple Leafs

With no disrespect to new faces like Matias Maccelli, Nicolas Roy, and Dakota Joshua, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ offseason has been defined by their departures.

Just four days after the club was ousted in Game 7 of the Second Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Florida Panthers, it was announced that team president Brendan Shanahan’s contract would not be renewed, thus ending the ‘Shanaplan’ era. The early summer was dominated by the divorce between the Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner, culminating in a sign-and-trade that saw the team’s reigning leading scorer land with the Vegas Golden Knights. Somewhere along the way, key assistant coach Lane Lambert was hired by the Seattle Kraken to be their new bench boss.

With those departures (particularly Marner) dominating the headlines, it was easy to miss the less significant but still noteworthy personnel losses from the organization. Toronto should still be just fine with Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Matthew Knies, and John Tavares in tow, but it’s worth noting some of the outgoing players while trying to understand why they are no longer with the club.

Pontus Holmberg

Of all the players from the 2024-25 Maple Leafs’ roster who are no longer with the club, Pontus Holmberg may be the biggest head-scratcher. The versatile 26-year-old earned the praises of head coach Craig Berube (and even, at one point, a promotion to the second line) for his two-way play and ability to draw penalties, demonstrating his value even while managing only seven goals on the season. He even saw action in all but one of the team’s 13 postseason games.

To make matters all the more confounding, Holmberg wasn’t even an unrestricted free agent. General manager (GM) Brad Treliving and the Maple Leafs opted not to extend a qualifying offer to the Swede, leaving him to sign a two-year, $3.1 million contract with the division rival Tampa Bay Lightning amidst reports that he was highly sought-after. Treliving has since admitted concerns over what Holmberg might have cost the organization in arbitration and whether they could fit him in under the cap.

Max Pacioretty

Ahead of last season, Max Pacioretty earned a spot on the Maple Leafs on a professional tryout in training camp and was signed to a one-year deal. The 35-year-old veteran of 939 NHL games rewarded the club with some standout moments in blue and white, including three clutch playoff goals. Unfortunately, the six-time 30-goal scorer also stayed true to his injury-prone reputation, suiting up for just 37 regular season games.

The fact that Pacioretty has not yet returned to the fold does not seal his fate with the Maple Leafs organization. There is still time for him to sign a low-risk one-year deal as a respected veteran in the locker room who can still produce when healthy. The former Montreal Canadiens captain proved last season that he still had some gas left in the tank, so he will likely find an NHL home before opening night. Whether that home is in Toronto or not will likely depend on the club’s roster and cap situation, and his fit within it.

Ryan Reaves

The departure of a player probably shouldn’t be a big news story when said player is coming off a season of 35 games, no goals and a measly two assists, but that’s a testament to the force of personality that is Ryan Reaves. The long-time enforcer earned some fans over two seasons in Toronto by being loud and brash while dropping the gloves on occasion. However, the writing was on the wall for the 38-year-old when he was assigned to the Toronto Marlies back in March.

Quite simply, there was no room for him on the Maple Leafs’ roster and the $1.35 million remaining on his contract could be put to better use elsewhere. Treliving did well to find a home for him in San Jose while adding some valuable defensive depth in 24-year-old Henry Thrun. Toronto will need to find a new face for their pre-game scoreboard pump up video, but swapping out Reaves for Thrun was a tidy bit of business that saved the club $350,000 while bringing in a more useful player.

Marlies Forwards

Sure, the Maple Leafs are poised to feel the loss of Marner, but let’s not diminish the impact of this summer’s moves on the Marlies. The American Hockey League club has lost three of its top six scoring leaders up front from a season ago, watching Alex Steeves reunite with Fraser Minten in Boston, Nick Abruzzese land in Tampa Bay, and Joseph Blandisi sign in Russia. Furthermore, Kyle Clifford recently opted to hang up the skates and transition into a front office role with the organization.

Steeves had a memorable 2024-25 campaign, becoming the Marlies’ all-time leading scorer during a 36-goal campaign and notching his first career NHL goal as well. The 25-year-old would likely have been in contention for a spot on the NHL roster to start the season, making his exit a surprising one. While none of Blandisi, Abruzzese, or Clifford was expected to play a meaningful role with the Maple Leafs, their absence will surely be felt at Coca-Cola Coliseum this season. With Blandisi gone, who is left to charge off the ice like a madman at the end of warm-ups?

Jani Hakanpaa

Assuming we’ve reached the end of the road for Jani Hakanpaa and the Maple Leafs, then what a curious one-year journey it was. First he was signed, then he wasn’t, then he was again. And all that whole offseason of confusion amounted to was two games played, as the 33-year-old defenceman was limited by the same knee problems that held up his signing in the first place.

At his end-of-season media availability, Treliving addressed the Hakanpaa signing and admitted, “There was always a risk. We took a swing and it didn’t work out.” Given that assessment of the club’s one-year experiment with the Finnish blueliner, it’s highly unlikely that we will see him in blue and white again.

Matt Murray

The Maple Leafs (then under GM Kyle Dubas) raised eyebrows when they acquired Matt Murray from the Ottawa Senators to shore up their goaltending situation in the summer of 2022. They drew another curious reaction when, after two underwhelming seasons, they re-signed the free agent netminder last summer. Three seasons, however, appears to be enough, as the oft-injured goaltender signed with Lambert and the Kraken in July.

Murray struggled with injuries and underperformance in his first season in Toronto. In year two, he was healthy for all of three games with the Marlies. He actually played well for the franchise’s AHL affiliate last season (10-5-4 record with .934% save percentage and a 1.72 goals against average), but it wasn’t enough to keep him around. With Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov poised to take the reins between the pipes with the Marlies, it remains to be seen whether the organization will add further veteran goaltending depth behind Maple Leafs netminders Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll.

Marlies’ Finnish Contingent

Earlier, we discussed departures from the Marlies amongst the forward corps. That doesn’t even include the hits that the AHL team took to their back end – and pretty much all from one part of the world, no less. Indeed, it was a tough summer if you were a Finnish defenceman in the Maple Leafs’ system. Beyond the outgoing Hakanpaa, Topi Niemela, Roni Hirvonen, and Mikko Kokkonen all signed contracts overseas.

Niemela and Hirvonen each received qualifying offers from the Maple Leafs, allowing the club to retain their NHL rights even as they head to Finland and Sweden, respectively. Kokkonen, however, has departed the organization entirely. Either way, the fact that all three youngsters (Niemela and Hirvonen are 23, Kokkonen is 24) will be playing elsewhere next season demonstrates that the shine has come off what were once top prospects and that Treliving probably didn’t hold them in the same regard as Dubas, who selected them early in the 2019 and 2020 NHL Entry Drafts.

It goes without saying that none of these losses carry the emotional weight or on-ice impact of Marner. But in a city where even fourth-line grinders can be household names, each of these aforementioned absences will be felt in one way or another.

Maple Leafs’ Offseason Departures Not Named Mitch Marner