![\"May](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/589487.webp.webp\" "\\"May")
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Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Fans may think that the Maple Leafs made some pretty underwhelming moves all things considered, but the Leafs have a very clear identity that’s being formed beyond the scoresheet.<\/p>\n
Toronto has a very clear philosophy that is being revamped to the liking of GM Brad Treliving, one that plays more physical and with more grit.<\/p>\n
The offseason moves made by Toronto represent not necessarily players who are relied upon to bring offense to the lineup, although preferred, but bring a sense of strength and intensity that has been the foundation of what is being built for the Leafs this season.<\/p>\n
Key Moves That Went Under the Radar<\/p>\n
The Toronto Maple Leafs hardly have deals go under the radar, they’re constantly talked about, but just how effective they’ll be is something that’s been lost in the conversation.<\/p>\n
A lot of discussion on next season revolves around how the culture will change with Mitch Marner<\/a> gone, but at times do little in scrutinizing the Leafs new acquisitions under a microscope.Nicolas Roy<\/a>, acquired for Marner<\/a> in the sign-and-trade from Vegas, is a solid defensive center who will replace the outgoing Pontus Holmberg<\/a>, who signed with Tampa Bay, and like Holmberg can play on the penalty kill and disrupt plays.Toronto added a potential high-reward winger in Matias Maccelli<\/a>, who only two seasons ago had 57 points but regressed down to just 18 last season.<\/p>\n If he is able to rebound to his old self, he could find himself a challenger for Marner’s old spot in the Leafs lineup.<\/p>\n Toronto also signed Dakota Joshua<\/a>, similarly to Maccelli, a player looking for a rebound as he struggled early after coming into the season late due to an offseason cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n When at 100%, Joshua is one of the more physical checking forwards in the game.<\/p>\n Toronto also made a few depth signings that are likely Marlies signings, led by a potential NHL call-up option in Vinni Lettieri<\/a>, who played 26 games last season for Boston.Michael Pezzetta<\/a>, who played 26 games for Montreal last season, is a potential 13th forward option.The Toronto Maple Leafs kept their defense largely intact, but added defenseman Henry Thrun<\/a> from the San Jose Sharks as another reclamation project.<\/p>\n Thrun, who had shown some promise as an NHLer, struggled at both ends last season with San Jose. Some time in the minors as a leader for the Marlies could do some good for him before competing for a roster spot, although he’ll be in contention.<\/p>\n The Big Question Left Unanswered<\/p>\n The Toronto Maple Leafs as of right now had not answered their goal of finding a top-six forward to replace Marner. The Leafs are clearly looking to be more ambitious than Maccelli, as even with his acquistion did Brad Treliving express a desire to add more.<\/p>\n With the Leafs once again in the familiar spot currently operating under a limited cap room, Toronto will be focusing on a potential trade if they want an upgrade, but haven’t signaled that to be the case.<\/p>\n Toronto is still linked in free agency<\/a> to the top remaining forward in Jack Roslovic, although the Leafs face another question mark with their lineup as it is.As it stands, the Leafs have 14 forwards in their lineup<\/a>, and if they were to add Roslovic, that would make for 15 players. This doesn’t include Pezzetta, who PuckPedia has a non-roster player.<\/p>\n While a trade could very well happen whether the Leafs add to their roster or not, there’s a good chance of there being an odd man out in the lineup.<\/p>\n The Toronto Maple Leafs still have a variety of unanswered roster questions, specifically on the forward side, which will almost certainly make for a major storyline to watch before the start of the regular season.<\/p>\n Previously on HockeyPatrol<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images Fans may think that the Maple Leafs made some pretty underwhelming moves all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[4892,8080,19987,5,20,5172,4,1337,66,31,5171,6060],"class_list":{"0":"post-172741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-brad-treliving","9":"tag-dakota-joshua","10":"tag-free-agent-signings","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-maple-leafs","13":"tag-mapleleafs","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-nicolas-roy","16":"tag-toronto","17":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","18":"tag-torontomapleleafs","19":"tag-trade-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115102470920937220","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}