Maple Leafs sign William Villeneuve to 2-year extension

In the announcement, the Leafs also made official the signings of forwards Ryan Tverberg and Jacob Quillan, both of whom inked identical one-year extensions with an $850k cap hit, according to PuckPedia.

The 24-year-old was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft by the Leafs and has slowly worked his way up the depth charts. Villeneuve is coming off a productive season in which he emerged as the AHL’s Toronto Marlies leading scoring defenceman with 30 points (three goals and 27 assists) in 63 games. He went on to lead all AHL defensemen in playoff scoring with 23 points (two goals and 21 assists)  in 24 games en route to the Marlies winning the 2026 Calder Cup.

His strong season earned him a three-game stint with the Leafs to end the 2025-26 regular season, where he went scoreless, registered a hit, five blocks, and was a +1.

“I think when I got to pro, I was 6-foot-2, 170 pounds, and it’s hard to battle against guys that are 220 pounds, so I’ve just worked on becoming more physically and mentally mature,” Villeneuve said to reporters ahead of his NHL debut on April 11. “My defensive game and physical game has improved a lot, so I just have to go out there, not overthink, and just play my style of game that brought me here.”

A big part of what helped Villeneuve explode on the offensive side of the ice is his hockey IQ and strong awareness of where to send the puck, as the right-shot defenceman does well in spotting an open skater to either start the breakout or create a rush-scoring chance. Being a strong skater allows Villeneuve to also jump into the play when needed and create some separation to allow his teammates to take over and get into the high-danger areas, which increases the likelihood of a goal. His work on improving his stride, four-way mobility, and composure under pressure has gone a long way in his growth on the offensive side of the puck.

It took Villeneuve longer than expected to get his shot with the Leafs, but his impressive output and continued improvement got him that long-awaited callup at the end of last season. He will no doubt be in the mix to crack the Leafs’ lineup as their seventh defenceman and get some additional reps as the season progresses. If not, he will nonetheless be high up the call-up list for injury replacements.

With Villeneuve now locked up, the Leafs have wrapped up signing all of their RFAs for players they gave a qualifying offer to. In addition to Villeneuve, Tverberg, and Quillan, they also signed Emil Andrae to a two-year, $1.55 million AAV deal on Saturday. GM John Chayka can now set his sights on making additional adds from outside the organization either via trade or free agency, though it is slim pickings at this point for the latter.