The Toronto Maple Leafs made some nice additions in the offseason that are now paying off on the ice. Goaltender Anthony Stolarz has looked great in net, helping the team win three out of the five games he started in and putting up a .938 SV%. Outside of the crease, defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been solid leading all Leafs blueliners with two goals and four points through seven games, and although Chris Tanev has yet to register a point, he is unsurprisingly leading the league with 25 blocked shots to start the season.
There are other notable pickups who are looking good for Toronto, but what about the guys they gave up? In the summer, the Buds lost some notable names in free agency, including Tyler Bertuzzi, T.J. Brodie, Joel Edmundson, Ilya Samsonov, Ilya Lyubushkin and Noah Gregor. While none have absolutely lit up the score sheet since leaving Toronto, a few have been playing alright hockey for their new clubs.
Let’s take a look at how each of these ex-Leafs are doing.
What’s up with the wingers?
Tyler Bertuzzi became a fan favourite during his lone season in Toronto and put up a respectable 21 goals and 43 points through 80 games. Bertuzzi opted to sign elsewhere in the offseason, joining the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks on a four-year, $22M deal. Bertuzzi’s early stats don’t jump off the page, but the 29-year-old winger has provided his new team with two goals in seven games tying him for third on the team in goals.
The other winger the Leafs lost to free agency was Noah Gregor. Gregor wasn’t a crucial component of last season’s Leafs squad and put up just six goals and 12 points through 63 games. He also averaged just 11:24 minutes of ice time and was most known for being at the receiving end of a wild Tom Wilson high-stick in a game against the Washington Capitals last March. In his new home of Ottawa, Gregor hasn’t been a huge help, although he has chipped in with one goal in six games. Nothing amazing but he could see more opportunity on a hungry young team like Ottawa.
The departed defencemen
Starting with the guy out of these three with the longest Leafs tenure, T.J. Brodie has consistently put up 15–30 points through most of his NHL career and that was no different with the Leafs when he was healthy. The Chatam, Ont. native averaged a high 21:43 minutes of ice time with the Leafs last season, and while he only contributed one goal, he did put up a solid 25 assists. Now with Bertuzzi on the Blackhawks, Brodie has contributed two assists so far this season but has also seen his minutes greatly diminished to just 16:11 on average.
Now over in Los Angeles, former Leaf Joel Edmundson has put up the same two assists as Brodie, but in just five games. Edmundson was a late-season pickup by the Leafs in 2023–24 after the team acquired him from the Capitals at the trade deadline last March. The 31-year-old defenceman played just nine regular-season games with the Leafs and put up zero points in that span, and those numbers were just as non-existent in the playoffs—excluding his one assist. His minutes have gone up so far this year, so perhaps he could make some magic happen with the Kings.
The final defenceman the Leafs lost was Ilya Lyubushkin. Lyubushkin has been far from electric in his NHL career and that was no different during last season with the Leafs, which was also his second stint with the team after playing the 2021–22 season with the squad. Lyubushkin signed a three-year deal with the Dallas Stars in the offseason and has not done too much for them thus far, posting zero points through seven games. On a team with Cup aspirations like Dallas, Lyubushkin could wind up lost in the shuffle.
Sammy goes to Vegas
Leafs Nation definitely has a love/hate relationship with former starting goaltender Ilya Samsonov. He was the goalie that helped the Leafs get over the first-round hump in the 2023 playoffs, but he was also the goalie that was very hot and cold, especially last season where he put up a lacklustre .890 SV% in the regular season and an equally bad .896 in the playoffs. Now a backup for Adin Hill in Vegas, Samsonov has actually looked pretty solid in his new role.
The 27-year-old former Leaf has put up a solid .944 SV% and a 1.95 GAA in three games. Two of those games were wins in which Samsonov allowed just one goal in each, and the other was a 4–3 overtime loss to the Panthers. It’s definitely too early to say that Samsonov’s rough days are behind him, but perhaps this new backup job in Vegas may be just what the hockey doctor ordered for the ex-Leaf.
