The Toronto Maple Leafs placed Philippe Myers and six more on waivers in addition to Steven Lorentz as the team cuts its roster down ahead of the 2026-27 season.
On Thursday, the Maple Leafs cut their roster down significantly with only five days before they kick off the 2026-27 season. It was already reported that Steven Lorentz was going to be waived, however the team has also let go an additional seven players.
Toronto trims their roster with only days to go
The list includes some notable names such as: Philippe Myers, Vinni Lettieri, Henrik Rybinski, and Michael Pezzetta. With the roster needing to be cut down considerably, these were some pretty likely candidates.
Teams will have 24 hours to claim these players, otherwise they will be assigned to the Toronto Marlies, or the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.
Other names include free agent signing Brendan Brisson, long-time Marlies mainstay Marshall Rifai, and Calder Cup standout Ryan Tverberg.
Names like Lettieri and Rybinski had decent camps though were likely going to be headed to the Marlies anyways this season, and Pezzetta will likely be a call-up if Toronto needs to add some edge to the lineup.
Myers was a clear candidate to be waived after a dismal 2025-26 season and the fact the Maple Leafs completely redeveloped their blue-line this offseason, going for much more mobile players as opposed to stay-at-home defenders like Myers.
It was a necessary group of moves that are certainly not going to be the last that the Maple Leafs make in the coming days.
Who else can we expect to be waived in the coming days?
While it was a considerable thinning of the roster, there are still a few decisions to make. Currently the team sits at 24/23 contracts, so they need to get rid of at least one of either William Villeneuve or Bo Groulx.
Villeneuve is out long-term, so it's likely that he is going to be waived and then assigned to the Marlies for later on in the season. Groulx has made a good run at being a bottom-six asset, and he has a better shot at staying over Villeneuve.
Though he still may be waived, as the Maple Leafs are going to have to also decide if they want to sign Nick Blankenburg which would require them to make room on the roster. We will have a better idea once 2 PM hits on Friday, and if there are any claimed players or if it's going to be a tight crunch.
More details to come.
Do you think the Maple Leafs made enough waiver assignments and roster cuts?
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