5 notable NHL free agents who are still available

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a quiet offseason from a free agency standpoint. All of the headlines surrounding the team since the offseason began have been regarding Mitch Marner, and their two biggest acquisitions in Nicolas Roy and Matias Maccelli have come via trade. While general manager Brad Treliving seems to be scouring the trade market to address the gaps in his forward group, that doesn’t mean he’s not keeping eyes on the list of remaining free agents.

Let’s have a look at some of the best players still available who could fit the Maple Leafs’ needs.

Jack Roslovic

Jack Roslovic takes the top slot on this list solely due to the fact that the Maple Leafs seem to be interested in him already. The 28-year-old scored 22 goals last season and has shown to be a player who can hit the 40-point mark at his best, so he would be a good addition to their depth. The drawback with him is that he’s not great defensively, so in a sense he seems like another Max Domi type, which the Maple Leafs may not want to commit to.

Still, Roslovic is reportedly okay to wait and see what happens with the Maple Leafs’ offseason and whether or not they’re able to move enough bodies out to fit him in. If the Leafs sign him, you can expect him to be used in a similar way to how Domi was. He can play all forward positions and shoots right, so he could be a right-handed shot to ride shotgun with Auston Matthews, whom he has experience playing with from their youth, or somebody that slots somewhere into the middle six. Of all the players on this list, Roslovic is the one to keep an eye on.

Max Pacioretty

Max Pacioretty went from a reclamation project that looked like it spun out during the regular season after a hefty battle with the injury bug, but that entire narrative changed in the spring. He was fully healthy by the time the playoffs rolled around and chipped in eight points in 11 playoff games, dipping his feet into the fountain of youth and scoring some crucial goals including the game-winner to get them out of Round 1 against the Ottawa Senators.

If he plays, it feels like Pacioretty will either spend the 2025-26 season with either the Maple Leafs or the Detroit Red Wings, a team close to where he played college hockey in Michigan. The Maple Leafs may not opt to go this route if they intend to get younger with their depth signings, but he remains an option as the Leafs know what they’re getting if they opt to bring him back.

Victor Olofsson

If the Leafs want somebody who they can consider a lock to score 15-20 goals, Olofsson might be somebody they consider. The 29-year-old spent last season with the Vegas Golden Knights after six years with the Buffalo Sabres and notched 15 goals and 29 points in 56 games.

Like Roslovic, the issue here is the defensive side of the game, plus the fact that he can only play wing. Treliving will no doubt be considering all options when it comes to who can chip in with depth scoring, and there might be some familiarity here with former Vegas teammate Nic Roy, but the Maple Leafs GM may be shooting higher.

Jeff Skinner

Jeff Skinner is somebody I was vouching for the Maple Leafs to sign last offseason. It reportedly came down to the Maple Leafs or the Edmonton Oilers, and he opted to join the latter. It didn’t go great for either party. While Skinner chipped in 16 goals, he only had 29 points by the time the season ended and appeared in only five games for the Oilers in the playoffs.

Skinner is on the wrong side of 30 and, like Olofsson and Roslovic, doesn’t bring much on the defensive side of the game, but the fact that he scored 24 goals on a horrendous Sabres team two years ago is intriguing, and even if 29 points isn’t attractive on paper, he may appeal to Treliving as a middle-six, second power play unit type of player.

Matt Grzelcyk

The Maple Leafs’ defensive corps is already set in stone for the most part, and even though they have Philippe Myers slotted in as their seventh defenceman as of right now, Grzelcyk is a sneaky depth option who might appeal to teams like the Maple Leafs.

For a team that struggled to provide much offence from the blueline, Grzelcyk had a shockingly good year offensively last season. Despite only scoring one goal, he added 39 assists for 40 points in 82 games, which would have been second on the Maple Leafs. If they decide they want to upgrade on Simon Benoit on the bottom pair, or even Myers, if Grzelcyk is open to it, he could be receiving a call at some point.