Three players the Maple Leafs should target to finish their offseason

There's three players who could help the Maple Leafs lineup this summer and if Toronto acquires them by some stroke of luck - a Stanley Cup could be in sight.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have done some pretty heavy lifting the past week or so. They traded Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit, hired Jim Hiller to be their new head coach and also made a huge push to be competitive by trading for Darren Raddysh and signing him before anyone else could.

That's pretty impressive work from John Chayka with several more moves expected. There's a Morgan Rielly deal that's being talked about, there's the NHL Draft to worry about, and then there's other names who could be on the outs like Brandon Carlo, Steven Lorentz, and Philippe Myers.

So with the team going through a huge overhaul already, there's still some holes to fill in the lineup and with that, there's a few targets who are likely going to be available given all previous reports indicate they are headed off their current teams - and let's see who Toronto needs to bring on board.

Boone Jenner solves the Maple Leafs 2C issues and gives John Tavares the help he needs

All credit to Tavares, he's been stellar since he showed up in Toronto. But he's also going to be 36 this year and while he hasn't shown signs of regression; it's always a concern. He could use a bit of respite from heavy minutes to ensure his durability remains intact.

That's where Jenner comes in. It's been reported the veteran forward and Blue Jackets captain was not too keen on Columbus' extension offer and switched agents with the hopes of getting a bigger raise.

Toronto can afford it and they should pay him too. Jenner, 32, struggled in 2024-25 and bounced back a little bit in 2025-26. He had 38 points in 67 games for the Blue Jackets while adding 147 hits, 66 blocks and a 52.6% face-off win percentage.

For his career though he's had double digit goals all but three times, including multiple 20-goal seasons and a 30-goal campaign in 2015-16. While you don't get that offensive punch of Tavares, he does solve a critical shutdown role and opens up space for Easton Cowan and William Nylander (if that's the line).

He's looking for more than his $3.25-million AAV and if Toronto were to double that for the next three seasons it wouldn't even be that big of an overpayment. $22.5-million for a former captain, 20-goal scorer, physically imposing and defensively sound player is a pretty solid deal especially with a rising cap.

Jenner isn't flashy but Toronto already has enough pizazz. They need some solid foundational role players and he fits the bill perfectly.

Toronto makes two big trades to bring in Vincent Trocheck and Dougie Hamilton

This is where things get a little tougher considering that both the Devils and Rangers are going to look for premium assets in return, however there is a way to work around it.

The Rangers are in full rebuild mode so giving them youth and assets is a pretty good call especially if the goal is to compete now. Trocheck will cost you Nick Robertson at least, then you need to give the Rangers a 2026 third-rounder (69th overall) then you'll likely need to give them a prospect.

William Villeneuve would fit the bill as he looks like he won't make the team given the new regime's mindset and his AHL Playoff run shows he deserves a spot - just where he's going to get minutes.

We mentioned previously that Easton Cowan could be on the outs, and if the Maple Leafs are going to have a logjam at wing and need help up the middle, he could be gone.

Trocheck is owed $5.625-million for the next three seasons and would actually open a world of possibilities for Toronto. They could use him and Tavares as a 1/2 punch on the third line and simply have one as a winger. Trocheck is an extremely good defender, so perhaps sliding Tavares over wouldn't be the worst thing; and we already know Jenner can hold it down.

Or you can even swap Trocheck with Jenner if the team needs more of an offensive punch if names like Cowan and Nylander are struggling to get it going. It's a good problem to have, and there's always a spot in the lineup for him whether it's the wing or pivot.

Hamilton comes in as a replacement for Chris Tanev who needs to get sent to the bottom pair. There's nothing against him but he will be targeted, he is injury prone, and he's 36. Brandon Carlo likely has to go for this to work, but Hamilton gives Toronto some serious firepower.

He struggled this season but much like Jenner, has solid career averages. He's averaged 38.5 points, 75 hits, 71.5 blocks, and holds a career plus-74 rating and would give Toronto another threat on the right side.

For arguments sake, let's say the defence picks up Hamilton and dumps Carlo, here's what it could look like:

McCabe - Raddysh
Ekman-Larsson - Hamilton
Andrae - Tanev

This way you have a solid shutdown player on each pair (McCabe, Hamilton, Tanev) while also adding much better transition offence, exit numbers, and most importantly - mobility.

Hamilton won't be as expensive as Trocheck but still may cost Toronto a couple of prospects, and perhaps a goaltender like Dennis Hildeby, but the team could also flip Samuel Ersson to the Devils instead and give them a young goalie with a chip on his shoulders.

The cap math works too. Assuming Toronto moves out Rielly and Carlo, that saves them nearly $11-million on top of their $20-million they have now. Adding Trocheck ($5.625M), Hamilton ($9M) and Jenner ($7.5M) still gives them roughly $10-million to work with and that doesn't include Max Domi's LTIR potential savings.

It's a lot of work for Chayka and the logistics are still going to be a bit to manage however as we've seen recently, the team is willing to go for broke.

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