The Maple Leafs signed Colton Sissons and it fixes a real hole down the middle

Toronto added their first player of free agency as they signed Colton Sissons to shore up their bottom-six and add a penalty-killing maestro to help Auston Matthews.

David Pagnotta reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs are working on a deal that would see them bring in their first free agent of 2026, and it's a very important one too as Colton Sissons is looking to head to hockey's capital:

Sounds like Colton Sissons to the Leafs, and Ross Johnston signs with the Blues.

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The Maple Leafs signed Sissons to a two-year, $8.5-million deal ($4.25-million AAV).

Sissons, 32, is a defensively sound bottom-six centre who is not going to be an offensive dynamo but can give you some secondary scoring. His true strength lies in his penalty-killing ability, elite face-off metrics, immense physicality and gritty mentality.

Toronto adds one of the best bottom-six defensive centres in the NHL over the past decade

For his career he has 232 points in 756 games with Nashville and Vegas, but has added nearly a 54% face-off win percentage, 1,233 hits, and seven short-handed goals. It's not a flashy signing for the Maple Leafs but it's a necessary one that will help them ease the burden off Auston Matthews.

This is a personal dream signing for the bottom-six as the Maple Leafs are going to get one of the hardest-working and tough to play against centres who will slot in regardless of situation. If they need him as a 4C he'll do it. If they need him to kill penalties or block five shots in a row he's down to do it.

He's the ultimate team player who knows his role, and this isn't the big splash Toronto was expected to make but it was a necessary one. Sissons will replace Max Domi up the middle, he's as good defensively as Nic Roy, is not expensive especially with what you're getting as opposed to a Ryan Reaves (people see 11 points and get scared).

It's clear Toronto wanted to get a little meaner up the middle and adding Sissons will only add to a group that has Dakota Joshua and Steven Lorentz; two players who don't mind getting aggressive.

The defensive skillset will be a godsend for Auston Matthews considering it allows him to focus a lot more on offence, and Toronto still has more than enough space to make a real splash.

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