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The Toronto Maple Leafs will have to make some tough decisions this off-season. When NHL free agency officially opens on Saturday at noon (ET), the Maple Leafs won't have a ton of cap space and plenty of players hitting free agency.
Toronto currently has 17 players under contract for next season but only $5.9435 million in cap space heading into the off-season, which can rise a little once they put Jake Muzzin on long-term injured reserve (LTIR), giving them roughly $9 million in cap space to spend.
The Maple Leafs could also buy out goaltender Matt Murray, which will save them roughly $3 million this year but would add a $2 million cap hit to next year. With that, general manager Brad Treliving has said he won't be buying out Murray in this wave but could do so later on in the off-season.
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"There is a second buyout window if you have any arb [arbitration] cases," Treliving said when asked about buying someone out.
Who are the Maple Leafs' key free agents?
The Toronto Maple Leafs enter the 2023 NHL off-season without starting goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who is a restricted free agent. But all signs point to him being back.
On defense, the Maple Leafs have Luke Schenn, Justin Holl, and Erik Gustafsson becoming unrestricted free agents on July 1. Only Schenn seems likely to be brought back.
The forward group is the big one for Toronto, as they have six players hitting the open market. The forwards becoming free agents are Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari, Michael Bunting, Zach Aston-Reese, Alexander Kerfoot, and Wayne Simmonds. Whether or not any of them will re-sign remains to be seen, but the Maple Leafs have expressed interest in signing O'Reilly. However, he will likely have several teams interested in him in free agency.
Apart from having unrestricted free agents, Toronto also can re-sign Auston Matthews and William Nylander to contract extensions come July 1. Both of those moves are considered a priority to Brad Treliving. There have been some rumors that Nylander could be traded if negotiations don't go well, so it is an interesting off-season ahead for Toronto.
Ultimately, with not much cap space, Toronto likely won't be too aggressive in free agency and will instead fill roles at the bottom of their roster.
