The Toronto Maple Leafs are past Day 1 of free agency, but outside of a couple of depth signings, they haven’t done much at all to upgrade the roster. This is not cause for concern, considering the weakness of this season’s free agent class and specifically for the areas they’re looking to address, but suffice to say, there’s work to be done.
In the meantime, let’s have a look at the departing players from last season and where they’ll be calling home in 2025-26.
Mitch Marner – Vegas Golden Knights
There is simply no way that you’re finding out about Marner to Vegas for the first time by reading this article, but in the event that’s the case, now you know. Rumours of a sign-and-trade with the longtime star forward emerged over draft weekend, and the trade was officially executed on Tuesday morning ahead of free agency. The Maple Leafs received centre Nicolas Roy in return, which is a win alone for them considering the alternative was to have Marner walk for nothing, but playoff failures aside, Marner is easily the biggest loss via free agency since Zach Hyman left in 2020-21.
Nevertheless, Marner is locked into an eight-year deal worth $12 million annually with Vegas, and a new era has officially begun for both sides. Marner gets a fresh start in a calmer market that still has Cup aspirations, and the Maple Leafs undergo part of their ‘DNA change’ by moving on from one of their longest-tenured star players.
Pontus Holmberg – Tampa Bay Lightning
When the Maple Leafs declined to tender Pontus Holmberg a contract as he reached restricted free agent (RFA) status, the writing was on the wall that he wouldn’t be returning. Sure, the Leafs could have still brought him back after the fact if they wanted to, but if you’re Holmberg, you likely don’t feel the same determination to get a deal done. As a result, Holmberg joined the Lightning on a two-year contract worth $1.55 million annually.
Holmberg played a full season in 2024-25, and while the offence was essentially non-existent, he was arguably the hardest-working forward on the team and it felt like he was drawing a penalty every time he was on the ice. With the acquisition of Nic Roy, it was less likely that the Leafs would require Holmberg’s services this coming season, and now he joins a divisional rival.
Matt Murray – Seattle Kraken
The Leafs originally signed Matt Murray as part of what was arguably the biggest gamble the Leafs have made on their goaltending tandem in the Auston Matthews era. He joined the team ahead of the 2022-23 season, and although his durability issues caught up to him, he stuck around. He missed the entire 2023-24 season after undergoing surgery, but re-upped ahead of 2024-25 and spent the season with the Toronto Marlies, getting two regular season games in with the Maple Leafs and one playoff game.
Murray signs with Seattle for one year at $1 million where he’ll compete for playing time with Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord. Just because of the former’s contract and the latter’s performance last season, it’s likeliest that he will be the third goalie for them like he was for the Maple Leafs.
Alex Steeves – Boston Bruins
Alex Steeves is the definition of somebody who, you probably could have justified having an NHL spot a while ago, but the Maple Leafs never had the space for him. In four years with the Leafs organization, he amassed a total of 216 points in 247 AHL games, but only got the chance to play 14 NHL games, in which he scored a goal and added two assists.
This is different from a “AAAA” player, if you will. Those players are typically too good for the AHL and not good enough for the NHL, but Steeves still has potential at the NHL level, he just needs a chance from a team. He signed a one-year contract with the Boston Bruins and will look to finally carve out a full-time NHL job.
Nick Abruzzese – Tampa Bay Lightning
Joining Pontus Holmberg in Tampa Bay is forward Nick Abruzzese, a fourth-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2019. Similar to Steeves, Abruzzese has plenty of production in the AHL to his name, but hasn’t gotten the opportunity in the NHL yet. Whether he’ll have a better time in that regard with Tampa Bay than Toronto remains to be seen, but he’ll have another opportunity to make a name for himself on a one-year contract with the Lightning.
