Maple Leafs fan favourite Steven Lorentz emerges as likely trade casualty

Although he had a great debut year, Steven Lorentz struggled last year and with a new group of bottom-six forwards, he could be on the chopping block.

There were a lot of players brought in for the Toronto Maple Leafs over the past few seasons. We saw guys like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Ryan Reaves, Chris Tanev and more all come in to try and help give Toronto a competitive advantage going into the playoffs.

Some were hits, some were misses, but someone who has stuck around thus far with little fanfare has been Steven Lorentz.

Lorentz, a fan favourite for his tenacious style of play, charming personality and infectious smile, came in to the lineup back in 2024-25 and had a great year. Signed on a PTO, he played well enough to earn a fourth line role and he ran with it.

In 80 games he had 19 points, a plus-6, 199 hits, and only nine PIM in 2024-25 as he was a solid part of the Maple Leafs penalty kill, and added much needed toughness.

Toronto's offseason additions have made Steven Lorentz's role a lot less clearer

But his production dipped in 2025-26 and with the changes made this offseason - he may not have a spot.

Looking at who the Maple Leafs signed/traded for this summer, you start to notice a pattern - a huge majority of the acquisitions were made to play in the bottom-six:

- Nick Paul
- Colton Sissons
- Brandon Duhaime
- Teddy Blueger
- Jack Roslovic
- Zack MacEwan

Right there is a complete two lines of players in the bottom-six, and you still need to account for Dakota Joshua as well as AHL hopefuls like Bo Groulx, Jacob Quillan, Luke Haymes, and Ryan Tverberg.

All of those players offer what Lorentz can bring; offensive help, penalty killing, face-off acumen, physicality, grit - Paul alone is someone who adds all of that himself and is more than motivated to get back on track in Toronto.

Trading Lorentz would ease the cap crunch and clear important room

With that being said, Lorentz is therefore expendable especially with the team in the red, and his deal will appeal to contenders who need to add some extra help. Making only $1.35-million AAV until 2028, he's a very cheap option that is paid peanuts compared to others like him.

But more importantly, you're getting yourself that much closer to adding a proper top-six player or perhaps a veteran on a PTO who can play themselves onto the team like Lorentz did.

Right now, Toronto has only three contract slots to work with to sign anyone be in the NHL or AHL, so they need to make sure they have the room to figure out future moves without handcuffing themselves.

Moving Lorentz solves that issue, and it also prevents the team from trading Dakota Joshua who a) is a more capable offensive player with similar physicality to Lorentz and b) already has chemistry with Teddy Blueger - a key signing for John Chayka this summer.

For all intents and purposes, Lorentz came in with literally zero fanfare and endeared himself quickly to the Maple Leafs fans. Though it looks like now the honeymoon phase may be winding down, and with the winds of change blowing through Toronto?

It's possible that Lorentz is going to get swept up in the chaos and find himself elsewhere sooner than later.

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