Maple Leafs Re-Sign William Villeneuve

In addition to confirming new deals for forwards Jacob Quillan and Ryan Tverberg, the Toronto Maple Leafs also announced another re-signing. According to a team announcement, the Maple Leafs have re-signed defenseman William Villeneuve to a two-year contract.

Villeneuve, 24, has been a staple on the blue line for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies for the last several years. Toronto drafted him with the 122nd overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft from the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs.

He remained fairly stagnant in his development when he became a full-time player for the Marlies in the 2022-23 campaign. Villeneuve scored three goals and 25 points in 54 games in his rookie campaign, and two goals and 25 points in 54 games in his sophomore season.

Fortunately, Villeneuve took a big step forward during the 2024-25 season. In his best regular season to date, Villeneuve registered four goals and 40 points in 55 games with a +17 rating. It was such a good season that the Maple Leafs afforded Villeneuve his NHL debut, going scoreless across three contests.

Although his 2025-26 regular season wasn’t as good, scoring three goals and 30 points in 61 games, Villeneuve came alive in the postseason. Helping the Marlies to a Calder Cup championship, Villeneuve scored two goals and 23 points in 24 games with a +3 rating. He was only three points behind teammate Vinni Lettieri for the most points in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Unfortunately for Villeneuve, unless more changes are on the horizon, it’s unlikely that he’ll have a spot on the Maple Leafs’ roster to begin the 2026-27 season after the team brought in Emil Andrae and re-signed Troy Stecher. Still, given his performance over the last few seasons, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Villeneuve get the call if the Maple Leafs run into injury trouble.