Maple Leafs Lose Two Promising Young Forwards to Division Rivals

While it's been fairly quiet for the Toronto Maple Leafs on the first day of free agency, only signing Michael Pezzetta to a two-year deal thus far, some of their old faces have found new homes.

It was announced that the team lost both Nick Abruzzese and Alex Steeves in free agency, with them signing with the Lightning and Bruins respectively.

Abruzzese, 26, only played in 11 games for the Maple Leafs, registering three points (1G, 2A) and was a mainstay in the Marlies lineup for most of the time with the team.

He scored 47 goals and had 143 points in 211 games with the Marlies; he was drafted 124th overall in 2019 by the Maple Leafs.

Steeves, 25, is the Marlies all-time leading scorer and gets a chance to try and earn an NHL job with the Bruins.

He's also only skated in a handful of games for the Maple Leafs (14) and has three points as well (1G, 2A), scoring his first NHL goal this season; he was an undrafted signing from the University of Notre Dame after a solid NCAA career.

There may have been a chance that Steeves played this season with the Maple Leafs as a potential fourth-line option, but with the change in philosophy from management, it seems he was one of the many casualties.

Steeves leads the Marlies all-time in points with 217 (105G, 112A), and it's a bit of a shame he never got a real look from the team given his clear offensive talents and Toronto's lack of secondary scoring at times.

It will certainly be interesting to see when Tampa and Boston meet Toronto this season if either man will be in the lineup, and motivated to show their old team what they've let slip away.