Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Chayka was able to reshape his team's bottom-six forward group. He believes his team improved in several areas, but do these moves make the Leafs more competitive next season?
The Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the busiest teams on Wednesday as the NHL's free agency window officially opened.
GM John Chayka made several additions, including the signings of Sergei Bobrovsky, Jack Roslovic, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger and Brandon Duhaime, as well as acquiring Nick Paul in a trade that sent Dennis Hildeby to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In an overview of this batch of transactions, the Maple Leafs have sent a message to the rest of the league about looking to be competitive next season. But more importantly, they've addressed some key areas of the roster, bolstered their forward depth, and practically reshaped the entire bottom six.
"Well, certainly a player of Sergei Bobrovsky's caliber, I think, sends a message that we're serious about moving this team ahead and getting back on track and trying to take it to another level," Chayka said in his media availability on Wednesday. But I'd say everyone from him to the depth signings that bring us a lot of different elements and are allowing our players to be put in different positions where they can have their talents come out in the best way possible."
While the overall roster has seemingly improved on paper, Chayka has been able to address a couple of areas that needed some tweaks.
After the departures of players such as Scott Laughton, Nicolas Roy and even Bobby McMann this past season, Toronto lost some individuals who were excellent penalty killers and defensively strong.
Those abilities were recouped in Wednesday's activity, with Sissons, Blueger and Duhaime all being great suitors for a penalty-killing role, or even to take a D-zone start over Auston Matthews to allow him to focus on the offensive side of the game.
"It's a full picture, and so, we needed to get better in terms of the defensive side of the game," Chayka said. "We need to address our penalty killing, and we need to bring some more speed to the lineup. And I think if you look at the full picture, we're a much more dynamic team today than we were 24 hours ago."
When Chayka mentions speed, he's likely referring to Duhaime, who is a well-above-average skater in terms of his speed.
The 29-year-old left winger finished the past season in the 91st percentile in speed bursts at 22-plus mph, executing 11. The average NHL skater recorded 3.8. Duhaime also reached the 92nd percentile in max skating speed, clocking at 23.3 mph in a game from late March, according to NHL Edge.
In the theme of penalty killing, Duhaime can also do a job in that aspect, averaging 1:07 of shorthanded ice time in 2025-26 with the Washington Capitals.
Sissons led all Vegas Golden Knights forwards in shorthanded ice time at 1:28 per game. Blueger was another strong presence on the PK with the Vancouver Canucks, averaging 1:52 per game.
The new-look bottom-six forward group that Chayka has introduced brings more tools and will have a lot more responsibility than the way the Leafs ended this past campaign.
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