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The Toronto Maple Leafs were busy on July 1, adding veteran defensemen Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and goalie Anthony Stolarz to the fold, and retaining forward Max Domi and goalie Matt Murray. Although the move of winger Mitch Marner that many were expecting (and some were hoping for) did not occur, the Athletic in a column ranking all 32 NHL clubs’ offseason moves rated Toronto 8th best in the league.
The column believes that most of the NHL teams who were contenders last season had their rosters ravaged by free agent departures, while they considered the additions of Tanev and Ekman-Larsson as upgrades over the departing Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin, and believes that adding free agent goalie Anthony Stolarz is an improvement over the wildly inconsistent Ilya Samsonov.
The improvement on defense is apparent, as Tanev potentially is the best fit for Morgan Rielly as a top pairing partner, and Ekman-Larsson showed he has some game left during Florida’s Cup run. The status of Jani Hakanpaa would only add to Toronto’s improvement on the blueline if he is healthy enough to play.
While there is no disagreement that moving on from Samsonov was essential, the signing of Stolarz and his ability to split time with Joseph Woll or play more than a backup workload will be one of the biggest questions next season.
The Toronto Marlies announced the club’s 2024-25 regular season schedule on Thursday. Toronto opens their 20th season with back-to-back games against the San Diego Gulls on Saturday, October 12 and Sunday, October 13 at Coca-Cola Coliseum and will play four games of their 72-game schedule at Scotiabank Arena, including their annual Boxing Day match against the Belleville Senators, Family Day - February 17, 2025 against the Laval Rockets, and two doubleheaders with the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 16 against Belleville and March 15, 2025 against the Charlotte Checkers.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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