Maple Leafs’ 2024 Offseason Plans for Their Free Agents

Due to that, it would be very smart for the Maple Leafs and Treliving to offer Edmundson a contract at the end of the season, barring an underwhelming postseason. The Maple Leafs, like most other teams in the NHL, have to worry about the salary cap and choosing the best team possible that fits into that cap. This is why Treliving should sell him on the fact that he could compete for another Cup with this team and offer a bit less than market value. The contract offer should be somewhere around $2–2.5 million for one season, with a 15-team no-movement clause. This will give him the security to have somewhat of a choice of where he will end up if he is moved at the deadline. 

Ilya Lyubushkin

Lyubushkin is in his second go-around with the Maple Leafs, and Treliving and his management group should look at what happened the last time his contract was up and try to get a deal done. Lubushkin finds himself in an interesting spot; yes, he does play on the top line with Morgan Rielly, but he won’t be paid as a top-line defenceman. This will only work better in Toronto’s favour. They should attempt to keep him for the same reason as Edmundson, so they don’t need to go out and acquire another player like him at the deadline. It would make more sense and save the Maple Leafs a ton of assets to attempt to keep these two players and lock them up when you have the chance to do so.

Lyubushkin is the role player that the Maple Leafs seem to enjoy having around. He meshes well with Rielly, which allows him to rush the puck up the ice knowing that Lyubushkin will be back protecting the slot. There could be a chance that he doesn’t play on the top pairing for the entire season, especially if the Maple Leafs target a top-end defender in free agency. But he does give the option to be the steady shutdown blue line who breaks up the cycle and defends his crease well on the team’s top pair. It is no secret that the organization has struggled to bring in defencemen who work or keep their value, which is why Lyubushkin should be one of those players that they look at keeping. He won’t cost the team a ton on the payroll, and he works hard and does his job, which is what you want from an out-of-depth blue liner like him.

In terms of a contract, I’d assume Treliving would be looking at a cap hit similar to what Benoit was giving. Somewhere around the $1.25-$1.5 million range for another season, which allows the Maple Leafs to have a few trusted defencemen before their salary cap situation changes drastically with Mitch Marner and John Tavares seeking new deals after the 2024–25 season.

Aside from these two names above, I think Samsonov’s time with the Maple Leafs may have run his course. Yes, he has been amazing since being called back up earlier this season. But they have Joseph Woll, who seems to be the goalie of the future, and they need to give him first priority too. Samsonov’s play since returning to the NHL could also price him out of Toronto, which will mean the Maple Leafs will need to look at the open market to see who is there for cheaper. A few names that could hit the open market as trusted backups to Woll are interesting: Casey DeSmith and Laurent Brossoit. Both could be re-signed by their respective teams, in which case the Maple Leafs should pursue Marc-Andre Fleury to help mentor Woll in a backup role.

I feel that if Giordano and Jones want to re-sign with the Maple Leafs, both will be offered contracts. Giordano is still a great depth defenceman, who can block shots and be a great leader. He is also a Toronto kid who may want to retire as a Maple Leaf while still getting one more shot at winning the Stanley Cup. As for Jones, it seems that every NHL team will eventually adopt the three-goalie system, which means the third goalie needs to be good, and Jones can do that for the club. He may also receive a bit of persuasion from his good friend and key member of the Maple Leafs, Rielly. As for the two names above, they provide the team with a good chance of winning, and without Brodie returning and his cap hit coming off of the books, it allows Treliving to bring in new top-four defencemen to improve their overall team.