3 early predictions for Maple Leafs offseason after Panthers series loss

Mitch Marner was selected in the first round with the fourth overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs.  He would then make his NHL debut in the 2016 season and has been with the Maple Leafs ever since. He has been a consistent player for the Maple Leafs as well. Marner has scored 20 or more goals in seven of the last eight years, with the lone miss being the Covid-shortened 2019-2020 season. Further, he has had over 50 assists in six of the last seven years. Marner is coming into the off-season off his best season of his career. He had 27 goals and 75 assists this year, breaking the 100-point barrier for the first time.

While Marner is from Toronto, he has already signaled he will be testing free agency. Still, the Maple Leafs will have the cap space needed to make a run to keep Marner in Toronto. Last year, Marner garnered just under $11 million, in line with John Tavares and William Nylander. With the salary cap moving up to over $94 million next year, Toronto will have $24.5 million to work with. They can sign Marner to a deal that is similar to Auston Matthews and keep their top two forwards together on the first line for years to come.

The Maple Leafs let John Tavares walk

Two of the four core pieces for the Maple Leafs will be unrestricted free agents this offseason. Mitch Marner and John Tavares are both scheduled to be free agents. Marner will be 29 heading into next year, while John Tavares will be 35. Tavares has indicated he would like to return to Toronto this upcoming season. While the Maple Leafs have over $24 million in cap space, resigning Mitch Marner could take $13 to $14 million of that, leaving $10 million for the rest of the roster to work with. Last year, Tavares made $11 million, meaning he would have to take a pay cut to not only stay, but also allow the Maple Leafs to keep other parts, such as restricted free agent Matthew Knies.

Further, Tavares has not had the same level of production as Mitch Marner, nor the level expected when the Maple Leafs signed him. Tavares put up 84 points in his last season with the Islanders and then had 88 in his first with Toronto. He has reached 80 points just once since then. While Tavares may want to return to Toronto, Toronto is trying to keep other major parts and will need the cap room that Tavares would command to do that.

The Maple Leafs look to move Joseph Woll

The Maple Leafs recently extended Joseph Woll, which will see his salary go from $766,667 to $3,666,667 next year. It was the hope for Toronto that Woll would become their number one goaltending option, but that has not shown to be the case.  Anthony Stolarz was the better goaltender this year. Stolazs had a 2.14 goals-against average compared to Woll’s 2.73, while also being 17 points better in save percentage. Up until Stolarz was injured in game one with the Florida Panthers, he was the primary goaltender in the playoffs. Stolarz was also hurt during the regular season. Still, when he returned, Stolarz was the primary goaltender again.

With Stolarz being just 31 and costing just $2.5 million next year, the Maple Leafs could move Woll this offseason and free up some room to sign other players. They already have Artur Akhtyamov on their roster, and he is just 23 years old. Akhtyamov spent last season in the AHL and was solid, going 11-8-4 with a .901 save percentage. While Toronto will want to make sure they have a servicable back-up for Stolarz with his recent injury concerns, saving three million dollars will mean the Maple Leafs will look at shopping Joseph Woll.