Anthony Stolarz’s extension sets Maple Leafs up nicely for free agency next offseason

The 2025 offseason has potential to go down as one of the most important in recent history for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The obvious elephant in the room is the Mitch Marner saga, which ended with a sign-and-trade to the Vegas Golden Knights and Nicolas Roy coming back the other way. We’re not going to spend too much time on this because Marner is gone and the reality is that fans have likely already read enough Marner-related content to last a lifetime.

Beyond the Marner trade, the Maple Leafs put in a ton of tidy work when it comes to bringing back returning players. They entered the offseason with John Tavares and Matthew Knies both needing new contracts, with Anthony Stolarz also hoping to re-up on a new contract eventually. The result was bringing Tavares back on a four-year contract worth $4.38 million annually, re-signing Knies to a six-year contract at $7.75 million annually, and most recently, a new four-year contract with a $3.75 million average annual value (AAV) for Stolarz.

On the surface, these are all great deals, but when you put them into context, it really shines a light on how important these extensions were. Tavares, who scored 38 goals last season, took the hometown discount of a lifetime by shaving almost $7 million off of his annual salary to remain with the Maple Leafs. Knies was one of if not the most attractive restricted free agents (RFAs) and signed for less than he would have gotten from another team had he let a bidding war happen. And Stolarz, remaining vocal in his desire to get a deal done that benefits both sides and not just him, re-upped for a raise of just over $1 million from what he’s getting now.

Getting all of these players signed to a combined cap hit of just under $16 million gives the Maple Leafs an entirely different cap structure compared to what they’ve had for much of the Auston Matthews era. Gone are the days of four forwards getting paid heads and tails above the rest of the team with a rotating cast of low-paid depth forwards to round out the team. Their money is now spread out throughout the lineup with Matthews and William Nylander being the only players getting a double digit salary, and while this is something that could generally improve the depth of the team, it also sets them up nicely for free agency next season. And who’s headlining next year’s free agency class? Well, if it isn’t Toronto-born superstar Connor McDavid!

If you’re not a Leafs fan, get ready to hear nonstop speculation and connections between McDavid and the Maple Leafs. With every day that passes that McDavid is without a contract extension, the media speculation is going to be borderline aggressive. And you can’t complain about it! Leafs fans had to put up with this exact speculation before Matthews signed his extension prior to the 2023-24 season. Don’t pretend to forget having read something about Matthews leaving for Arizona every time his contract negotiations came up.

All jokes aside, this article is not supposed to suggest that the McDavid’s homecoming is a guarantee. In fact, it may be harder than ever to pull off considering that Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov just reset the market with an eight-year contract worth a whopping $17 million annually. On one hand, it would be silly for McDavid not to use Kaprizov as a comparable, and the Maple Leafs might not be comfortable dedicating almost all of their available cap space toward one player. On the other hand, McDavid is a genuine once-in-a-generation type of talent, and the fact that he’s from Toronto and could help play a role in accomplishing something that hasn’t happened since the days of black and white television might be too intriguing for him to turn down.

The Maple Leafs will have nearly $21 million in cap space to play with next summer with nearly all of their foundational pieces locked up for the next few years. Even if it’s not McDavid, there are a ton of intriguing talents who will be available next summer. There’s Jack Eichel, who will (ironically enough) be getting fed passes by Marner this year. There’s Artemi Panarin, routinely one of the most consistent point producers in the NHL. There’s Kyle Connor, who has scored at least 30 goals in each of his last four seasons including a 41-goal and a 47-goal campaign. And if they wanted to boost the back end, there’s Rasmus Andersson, who Brad Treliving knows better than anybody.

The bottom line is that, because of the way the contracts over the summer were handled, the Leafs are in prime position to make a big splash in free agency next season. There’s one clear prize that sticks out more than the rest, but either way, there’s lots of room for a significant improvement next summer.