Do The Maple Leafs’ Free Agency Moves Improve Their Cup Odds?

The first day of free agency can get quite hectic, and Maple Leafs fans definitely lived through their share of highs and lows. Some may even argue more lows than highs. Ryan O’Reilly, Luke Schenn, Michael Bunting, and Alexander Kerfoot went out the door, to name just a few. But Brad Treliving did his best to bolster the roster with some hard-nosed hockey players.

Maple Leafs Sign Ryan Reaves and John Klingberg

We’ll let the hockey experts assess whether the Toronto Maple Leafs got better or worse on the first day of free agency. One thing is for sure, there was no shortage of players leaving and entering the building.

Leafs faithful will bemoan the departure of so many players – Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson being two other names that won’t be wearing Toronto blue next year either.

On the flip side, Treliving’s situation is a tricky one. Much of the organization’s cap space is eaten by contracts belonging to Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitchell Marner, and John Tavares. Nevertheless, the team was never going to allow so many players to walk out the door with no one coming in the other way.

To that effect, Toronto signed Ryan Reaves from the Minnesota Wild. At 36, it’s being said he’s brought in to add some grit to the roster of very talented players but who lack a bit of special “oomph” come playoff time. He signed a three-year deal with an average annual value of $1.35 million.

Defenceman John Klingberg, a fellow Wild player, was Toronto’s other signing on July 1. His is a one-year contract worth $4.15 million. He’s spent most of his career with the Dallas Stars, which is where he put up his best numbers. Several campaigns with positive +/- ratios, six seasons with at least 40 points (one with 58 and another with 67). His 2022-2023 saw his play time in Anaheim and Minnesota greatly limited, but he hasn’t been in the league for even 10 years yet. He definitely has enough juice left in the tank to give the Toronto defence a lift.