Maple Leafs Unveil Bold $10.5M Four-Player Plan to Replace Mitch Marner

Making up Mitch Marner's 75 assists and 102 points was never going to be easy, especially so after the first day of free agency when the Toronto Maple Leafs did not land a top free agent, GM Brad Treliving issuing caution into a move that didn't fit his direction for the team in the post-Marner era.

Instead, the focus has been on solidifying the rest of Toronto's core, trading for a potential top-six player in Matias Maccelli, who is more of a bounceback candidate than a safe bet, as well as two potential middle-six forwards in Nicolas Roy, acquired from Vegas for Marner, and Dakota Joshua from Vancouver.

Notably, all three of these deals came as a result from trades, although only Roy came in the form of a deal that involved a player in return in Marner, although that was only for his contract rights.

The Leafs have currently 14 forwards signed on for the 2025-26 season expended to contended for roster spots, with this including the currently unsigned Nick Robinson, who is currently in arbitration.

Despite not currently netting a top-six forward who can replicate Marner, Brad Treliving is banking less on finding someone to mimic the output of what Marner can do, he is acquiring what he couldn't do.

A consistent criticism of the Toronto Maple Leafs is that they are not tough enough, despite their efforts to do so.

While a very defensively capable player who does well on the PK and can shut down plans, Marner's game never translated to physicality and power.

The Toronto Maple Leafs added two heavy power forwards in Dakota Joshua and free agent Michael Pezzetta, both top hitters in the league and able to play with a physical edge.

The Toronto Maple Leafs aren't looking to find another Mitch Marner, they're focused on finding players who bring a different style to the team and attributes that many have felt Marner and the Leafs as a whole have lacked in recent years.

None of the four players are direct Marner replacements, but serve the team in their own different ways they need.

Nicolas Roy, while being something Toronto would get back for the Marner sign-and-trade, he is more than consolation in being a solid middle-six forward who can do well at both ends of the ice, even if he doesn't posess a standout trait.

Matias Maccelli is the most promising of the bunch, but needs to prove he can be the 57 point player he was two years ago, not the 18 point player he had been last season.

Dakota Joshua will bring physicality and intensity to the Leafs lineup, doing what Ryan Reaves was asked to do although hopefully on a more consistent basis, and with more offense.

Michael Pezzetta may fill more of the actual Reaves mold, having been a healthy scratch with Montreal and playing in just 25 games while being pointless. At best he could either contend for a fourth-line spot or be the 13th forward providing energy to the team when called upon.

No one acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs this offseason is replacing what Mitch Marner showed he could do and why him leaving was a challenge, but the Leafs are positioning themselves to use their assets to shape a different identity to what hasn't worked in their past.