NHL analyst makes his feelings known about Toronto Maple Leafs' offseason moves

NHL analyst Mark Masters shared his thoughts on the Toronto Maple Leafs' offseason moves so far. The Leafs have made some significant changes to their roster, including trading away star winger Mitch Marner.

In June, the Leafs acquired forward Matias Maccelli from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a conditional third-round draft pick.

The biggest move came on July 1. The Leafs traded Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade deal. That brought center Nicolas Roy to Toronto. They also traded for forward Dakota Joshua from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round pick.

When asked about the Leafs' offseason so far during Friday's episode of TSN's "Fanduel Overdrive," Masters said:

"Yeah, I mean it's kind of been a weird off season. You know, you see Mitch Marner leave obviously huge hole and it just the way they've been doing it.” (0:05 onwards)

However, Masters likes some of the additions made to the bottom six forward group, such as Maccelli, Roy and Joshua. Masters acknowledges there's no true way to replace Marner's production, but he believes the Leafs are building a better supporting cast.

“So, it's been interesting, but I like a lot of what they've done at the bottom of the lineup and still I'm sure there's still moves to be made before we get to game one of the season, but kind of a bit of a weird offseason, I guess, so far for the Leafs." he added.

While the loss of Marner stings, Masters thinks the Leafs have made some smart moves to retool their roster. More changes could come before they open their 2025 season against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct 9.

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Mark Masters' comments about the Maple Leafs' third line

When asked what he would make the Maple Leafs' third line look like if he could run the team, Mark Masters said that he is intrigued by the possibility of pairing Nicholas and Dakota Joshua together. Masters noted,

“Size they would have, ability to play physically and to kind of soak up, you know, what you guys were talking off coming in about how you know Austin Matthews what kind of season he's going to have who's he going to play with and the with the way the lineup's coming together.” (0:50)

Masters notes that with the way the Maple Leafs's lineup is coming together, Matthews may not need to be relied on quite as heavily for defensive matchups this season.