When the Toronto Maple Leafs met the Montreal Canadiens for the first game of the 2022-23 season, 19 Maple Leafs’ players saw the ice. Although we’re not quite sure what the 2023-24 lineup for the first game of the season against the Canadiens on Oct. 11 will look like, fans should count on it being quite different.
The 2022-23 Maple Leafs’ line combinations on Oct. 12, 2022, against the Canadiens were as follows:
Forward Line Combinations
First Line: Michael Bunting-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner
Second Line: William Nylander-John Tavares-Denis Malgin
Third Line: Pierre Engvall-Alex Kerfoot-Calle Jarnkrok
Fourth Line: Zach Aston-Reese-David Kampf-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defensive Pairings
First Pairing: Morgan Rielly-T.J. Brodie
Second Pairing: Jake Muzzin-Justin Holl
Third Pairing: Mark Giordano-Rasmus Sandin
Starting Goalie: Matt Murray
What Players Are No Longer with the Maple Leafs?
Of those 19 players listed above, more than half – a full 10 players – are no longer with the team. This number represents a lot of players who have moved on and who are no longer in the Maple Leafs’ organization. The list below includes those players who played in the opening game last season but who, for one reason or another, are no longer playing with the team.
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- Michael Bunting
- Denis Malgin
- Pierre Engvall
- Alex Kerfoot
- Zach Aston-Reese
- Nicolas Aube-Kubel
- Jake Muzzin
- Justin Holl
- Rasmus Sandin
- Matt Murray
What Happened to These Players, Where Did They Land?
In the part of the post that follows, I’ll share what happened to the players who started the 2022-23 season in Montreal with a 4-3 loss to the Canadiens.
Player One: Michael Bunting
When his contract expired at the end of the season, Bunting was not offered another contract by the Maple Leafs. But it didn’t take him long to find a new home. He signed with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 1, 2023. He landed well, with the feisty forward signing a three-year, $13.5 million contract.
Player Two: Denis Malgin
Denis Malgin didn’t last the season with the Maple Leafs. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 19, 2022, for Dryden Hunt. The speedy forward started strong last season, but he never could reprise the success he’d had in Europe.
As a result, he’s moved on from the NHL and is headed home to Switzerland. There he signed a five-year contract with the Swiss National League’s ZSC Lions. The 26-year-old Malgin has proven to be a great hockey player – just not in the NHL. Over his last two seasons in Switzerland from 2020-22, he scored 40 goals and added 54 assists in 93 games.
Player Three: Pierre Engvall
Engvall was traded to the New York Islanders on Feb. 28, 2023, for a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. After moving to the Islanders, he set a new career high in goals with 16 in a season. However, his point total of 30 was five points short of his personal best of 35 points.
Related: Maple Leafs Commentary: Pierre Engvall, If Only He Were Physical
When his Maple Leafs contract expired, Engvall signed a seven-year, $21 million contract with the Islanders. The New York team sees him as a valuable middle-six forward who can excel both at 5v5 and in special team situations. This long-term deal suggests that the Islanders see him as a key part of their future success.
Player Four: Alex Kerfoot
Kerfoot, now 28 years old, had a good run with the Maple Leafs. He became head coach Sheldon Keefe’s Swiss Army knife – a player who could play in many situations. However, his salary-cap hit became too much for the cap-starved Maple Leafs.
It didn’t take long for the Arizona Coyotes to sign him to a two-year, $7 million contract. He’ll play in the desert this coming season. The Vancouver, British Columbia native is coming off a four-year, $14 million deal he signed with the Maple Leafs in July 2019.
Player Five: Zach Aston-Reese
As of this writing, to the best of my knowledge, Zach Aston-Reese (ZAR) remains unsigned. However, there’s a rumour that the Pittsburgh Penguins might be looking into tryout offers, and ZAR is well known there by new Penguins’ general manager Kyle Dubas. Given his bang-on-bodies skill set, he’s likely to find a home somewhere in the NHL.
Player Six: Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Aube-Kubel was a player who just couldn’t gain traction in Toronto. He never seemed to fit. As a result, the Maple Leafs placed him on waivers early last season and he was picked up by the Washington Capitals. There, the 26-year-old quickly found a new home. His speed, tenacity, and fearless forechecking impressed more in the US capital than in the Ontario capital. The Capitals signed the depth forward to a one-year contract extension for $1.225 million.
Player Seven: Jake Muzzin
The stalwart Muzzin only played four games with the Maple Leafs in 2022-23 before his season was shut down. Sadly, he suffered what might be a career-ending cervical spine injury. When the 34-year-old defenseman was re-evaluated in February, it was decided he would start the season on long-term injury reserve (LTIR).
Player Eight: Justin Holl
Holl is obviously seen as a better player outside Toronto than he is by Maple Leafs’ fans. When the depth defenceman’s contract expired, he quickly signed with the Detroit Red Wings for three years at $3.4 million per season.
Related: Maple Leafs Have Questions to Answer With Justin Holl
His total deal of $10.2 million is a huge upgrade for the Tonko Bay, Minnesota, native. Holl, now 31 years old, was a regular on the Maple Leafs blue line for each of the past four seasons. It looks as if he’ll also be a key part of the Red Wings’ rebuild over the next three.
Player Nine: Rasmus Sandin
In a surprise move, Sandin was traded to the Capitals at the trade deadline for Erik Gustafsson and the Boston Bruns’ 2023 first-round pick. When he got to Washington, the 23-year-old made a quick impact. In his debut on March 4 against the San Jose Sharks, he became the first defenceman in franchise history to record three points in his debut. Two days later he scored his first goal in a Capitals uniform. Expect him to be in a top-four role for the first time in his career this season.
Player Ten: Matt Murray
Early in July, the Maple Leafs announced that Murray’s injuries would force him to be out indefinitely. He was placed on LTIR. Murray, who likely won’t play this season, joins Muzzin in being shut down for the season.
The Bottom Line
The Maple Leafs, while perhaps not setting out to reshape the team, have done so. While the core remains intact, many depth players and middle-six players have moved on to other cities to ply their trade there.
This season, former teammates will look forward to playing against each other during the season. That should be especially true for those players who have become really good friends.
Good luck to former Maple Leafs players. We look forward to seeing several of you again this season – even if it’s in another uniform.
