Will the Toronto Maple Leafs' Renovated Defense Pay Off?

Chris Tanev Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Heading into the off-season, the Toronto Maple Leafs identified their back end – goaltending and defense – as the primary areas they wanted to address in trades and free agency.

They’ve now done exactly that with a bunch of veteran signings on the first day of free agency, and while they may not be completely done just yet – and more on that below – the Leafs have definitely done well in beefing up their overall attack.

Of course, the biggest signing Toronto made Monday was the six-year, $27-million contract for rugged defenseman Chris Tanev.

The Maple Leafs had struck quickly Sunday to get exclusive negotiating rights for Tanev, and they now have him as their right-shot, top-pairing blueliner until he’s 41 years old. That could be an issue later in the contract, but for the moment, the Leafs get a shut-down D-man to play alongside Morgan Rielly, and they’re a much tougher team to play against.

Toronto GM Brad Treliving wasn’t done there, though, signing veteran and former Florida Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a four-year, $14-million deal.

The 32-year-old Swede was an important depth part of Florida’s Stanley Cup-winning team this past season. While he’s no longer in his prime, Ekman-Larsson can be a solid third-pairing D-man who can generate some offense – his nine goals for Florida in 2023-24 were more than any Leafs blueliner – and Ekman-Larsson will be protected from taking on the opposition’s top lines.

Leafs GM Brad Treliving knew going into the summer that the $5 million in cap space he was getting by letting TJ Brodie walk away as a UFA would go toward his defense corps. The combination of Tanev and Ekman-Larsson gives the Buds a very good amount of experience where they need it most. Toronto could’ve spent its cap space on bringing back winger Tyler Bertuzzi, but they used Bertuzzi’s $5.5-million cap hit and Brodie’s $5-million cap hit to remake the blueline.

Toronto finished up its early spending spree Monday by signing another former Panther, goaltender Anthony Stolarz, to a two-year, $5-million deal.

The 29-year-old Stolarz was stellar last season as a tandem-mate with Sergei Bobrovsky, posting a 2.03 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 27 appearances. By pairing him with youngster Joseph Woll, the Leafs now have a big-bodied presence in net.

Treliving also expertly trolled Leafs Nation with the re-signing of oft-injured netminder Matt Murray to serve as Toronto’s third goalie on the depth chart. The 30-year-old Murray signed a one-year, $875,000 contract, and it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see him put through the waiver wire the way depth goalie Martin Jones was as an insurance option in 2023-24.

The Leafs also have prospect Dennis Hildeby in the pipeline, so the most you can say about Murray is his time in Toronto won’t last long beyond this season.

Following Treliving's moves Sunday, Toronto has only about $1.5 million in available cap space, per PuckPedia. Unless there are more trades in the pipeline – and there just might be, especially if young winger Nick Robertson wants a trade, as has been rumored – the Leafs are done with their heavy lifting on the roster front. They remain an elite regular-season producer of offense, but Treliving’s moves Monday ensure they’re going to be an improved group in their own zone. And Leafs fans should be pleased with that result.

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