#toronto-maple-leafs

#toronto-maple-leafs

A second-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2018, Groulx had spent his entire career with the Ducks before signing a deal with the Maple Leafs over the summer of 2025. He hasn't been able to figure it out at the NHL level yet, with only one goal and five points across 65 games over three seasons with the Ducks, but he's been a dominant presence for the Marlies thus far.

On Monday, news emerged that the San Jose Sharks had placed veteran forward Jeff Skinner on waivers for the purpose of contract termination. The move was mildly surprising considering that Skinner signed a one-year, $3 million contract this season. As such, terminating his contract would mean leaving a fair chunk of those $3 million on the table. At the same time, it makes sense that Skinner would take this route. The Sharks will likely be looking to move him at the NHL trade deadline.

In 2024-25, Haymes' final season before signing the deal with the Maple Leafs the forward posted 12 goals and six assists across 22 games, before joining the American Hockey League's Toronto Marlies on an amateur tryout. In nine games with the Marlies, Haymes recorded two goals and four assists. Through 42 games this season, the 22-year-old has scored seven goals, while chipping in nine assists, tied for the eighth-most points among all Marlies skaters.

Tavares was granted exceptional status into the Ontario Hockey League as an underage forward, after a prodigious minor hockey career with the Toronto Marlboros. He was the best player in Ontario, playing 18 months up and was selected first overall by the Oshawa Generals in the 2005 OHL Priority Selection. Tavares spent parts of four seasons with the Generals, before being traded to the London Knights in his final OHL campaign during the 2008-09 season.

As mentioned, there were expectations for him to be a top blueliner on the Leafs, along with former young prospect Rasmus Sandin, who was also envisioned as a top blueliner for the team. Niemela was mainly praised for the way he moves the puck as a defenceman. He also showed great vision and was able to make a pass whenever it was possible. He was also seen as someone who wasn't afraid to take a shot on goal and walk into the slot.

It's selling season (or window shopping season during the Olympic break) and the Leafs need to recoup futures, clear some contracts, and create roster spaces for next season while deciding whether or not to go all-in on a tanking attempt, which could blow up in their faces and reward the Bruins, or make a last ditch push for a wild card spot with fewer resources. Additionally, the Leafs have three salary retention spots at their disposal, they should use them all.

Like Easton Cowan, this will likely be Dennis Hildeby's final season seen as a prospect in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. The hulking 6-foot-7 goaltender got his first taste of NHL action in 2024-25, only two years after being drafted in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL draft, and while his short stint last season revealed that he still needed some seasoning in the AHL, he has shown through 19 games in 2025-26 that he's ready to be an NHL goaltender. And, if he wasn't a victim of the numbers game with both Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz signed to multi-year deals, he'd probably still be with the team.

There's been growing speculation that the Leafs are going to be both buying and selling ahead of this season's deadline, and Jarnkrok, a pending unrestricted free agent, is turning into a prime trade candidate. The 34-year-old Jarnkrok is owed $2.1 million this season and owns a 10-team no-trade clause in the final year of his contract. He's been in and out of the lineup so far this season, producing just six goals and one assist for seven points in 37 appearances.

It is therefore in their best interest to recalibrate the makeup of their roster and set themselves up for future success as soon as next year through a retool at the deadline. They could restock the cupboard with draft picks and prospects to use to make bigger upgrades or look to find disgruntled young players who need a fresh start somewhere else.

Jim Morrison, who was the Toronto Maple Leafs ' second-oldest living alumnus, has passed away at the age of 94, the team announced on Tuesday morning. Morrison, a defenceman who hailed from Montreal, Quebec, spent six-and-a-half years as a Maple Leaf between 1952 and 1958, tallying 23 goals and 88 assists in that time, and finished his career with 47 goals and 191 assists in 704 games.