The Toronto Maple Leafs are in position the team hasn't been for many years, with cap space available as training camp begins. 

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports general manager Brad Treliving spoke to teams throughout the summer to explore possible trade options, but has stood pat since mid-July. 

The Maple Leafs, who still have $1.92 million in space per PuckPedia, acquired forwards Matias Maccelli, Nicolas Roy and Dakota Joshua in trades this off-season. Treliving says the team will look to rely on those new additions, along with, potentially, Easton Cowan and current roster players to step up in order to fill the void the departed Mitch Marner leaves behind. 

“We’re going to miss him, but everyone moves on, right?” Treliving told LeBrun in Athletic when asked about replacing Marner. “We’ve got some guys that are looking for a bit of a bigger bite of the apple. We’ve got some new players that will be interesting to see where they fit. But you’re not just going to go out and replace him. You’ve got to do it by the aggregate — and then keep phoning around.

“We’ve got a couple of young guys that will be interesting to see where they’re at, especially with Cowan, and you’ve got Maccelli coming in, and Nick Roy, and Joshua …’’

Cowan could make the leap to the NHL this season after another impressive campaign with the London Knights last year. The 20-year-old posted 29 goals and 69 points in 46 games last season, adding 13 goals and 39 points in 17 playoff games as London repeated as OHL champions. 

At the Memorial Cup, the 2023 first-round pick posted three goals and seven points to tie for the tournament lead in scoring and took home the Stafford Smythe Trophy as tournament MVP.

​While the team currently expects to focus on relying on those currently with the team, Treliving isn't closing any doors when it comes to his roster. 

“If you can find a way to make yourself better, I think you do that all the time — leading up to camp, throughout camp,” Treliving said. “At this stage, we’ll probably go in (to camp) as we are right now. But who knows, right? We’ll continue to look. We have a lot of bodies right now. We do have some cap space. But we want to see how things play out, at least getting into camp, and then you’ve got three weeks before the real bullets start flying. But yeah, we certainly continue to look at whether there’s ways to help us.”


Extension talks underway with Anthony Stolarz

The Maple Leafs appear set in net for this season with Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll sharing duties and Dennis Hildeby available from the AHL after signing a three-year contract on Tuesday.

Stolarz is entering the second and final season of a two-year, $5 million contract signed with Toronto last summer and Treliving said extension talks have been ongoing between the two sides.

“Anthony has come in and has been terrific,” Treliving said. “Really, him and (Woll), you look at any metric you want, I think they were as good a goaltending tandem as there was in the league, and really were a backbone for us.

“We’ve certainly explored some things with Anthony and his representative, and we’d love to find a way to get something done. If there’s something that both sides are comfortable with, we’ll look at it. And we’ve been in those discussions for some time right now. We’ll see what the coming days bring.’’

The 31-year-old had a 21-8-3 record in his first season with Toronto, posting a .926 save percentage and a 2.14 goals-against average. He was 4-2 in the playoffs before being knocked out the team's second-round series against the Florida Panthers due to a concussion. 

Despite missing time during the regular season with a knee injury, the 34 games played were a career-high for Stolarz. A second-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2012, he has a career record of 64-39-12 with a .918 save percentage and a 2.54 GAA.

Woll, who is signed through the 2027-28 season at a cap hit of $3.67 million, went 27-14-1 with a .909 save percentage and a 2.73 GAA last season. He was 3-4 in the playoffs with a .886 save percentage and a 3.56 GAA.

The Maple Leafs will open their preseason on Sept. 21 against the Ottawa Senators, with their regular-season opener set for Oct. 8 against the Montreal Canadiens.