Toronto may consider trading one of its bottom-six forwards to address a top-six roster need.
Analyst Floats $15 Million Forward Trade as Maple Leafs Eye Upgrade originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Toronto Maple Leafs may need to move one or more players to create enough cap space for the addition of another top-six forward.
One of the potential casualties could be veteran winger Max Domi, who NHL analyst Thomas Williams of Editor in Leaf considered a potential trade chip for Toronto.
Domi completed the first year of a four-year, $15 million deal and carries a $3.75 million cap hit. He recorded 33 points in 74 regular-season games last season.
After the first two days of free agency, the Maple Leafs have just under $5 million in current cap space and all 23 roster spots filled but still want to improve their roster further.
Per @PuckPedia, #Leafs GM Brad Treliving has approximately $5.7 million in cap space to use as free agency opens. Robertson to be signed.
— Terry Koshan 🇺🇦 (@koshtorontosun) July 1, 2025
“With three years left on a contract that is paying him $3.75 million, Max Domi can still play above his contract,” Williams wrote. “But the extremely one-way player might just not be good enough at all the aspects of hockey to really make an impact as a bottom-six player.”
Williams thinks Domi could still appeal to certain clubs despite the remaining term on his contract, mostly because of his above-average production in the role he's played in Toronto.
“The term left on his contract might not be the most desirable thing for an acquiring team,” Williams said. “But we could certainly see some middling team be comfortable taking a player that can be an offensive center that can score around 40 points or so in a season.”
Following the sign-and-trade that sent Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights, Toronto is still looking to reshape its roster.
The Leafs received Nicolas Roy from Vegas and signed Mattias Maccelli off the Utah Mammoth, both forwards, but general manager Brad Treliving made it clear they still intend to add at the top of the lineup.
“It’s looking thinner and thinner in that marketplace,” Treliving said. “We’re trying to give ourselves as much flexibility (as possible) rather than spending and not addressing that need and having some flexibility if an opportunity comes up later down the road, whether that be trade or otherwise.
“That’s probably the path right now that we’re looking more closely at.”
Related: Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner Farewell Post Backfires
Related: Matthew Knies Makes 'Sad' Admission About Mitch Marner's Exit
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Hockey
