The Toronto Maple Leafs are eyeing center Jack Roslovic as they continue their hunt for offensive firepower in free agency.
The 28-year-old forward is one of the biggest names still available, and Toronto’s interest makes perfect sense. They’re still trying to fill the massive hole left by Mitch Marner’s departure.
It’s been a pretty tough challenge for the Leafs, who’ve taken a “spread the wealth” approach to replacing Marner’s scoring punch. They tried to land Andrew Mangiapane but came up empty.
That said, they haven’t exactly been sitting still.
The team made a smart move picking up Matias Maccelli when his value was low, and they managed to snag Nicolas Roy in the Marner sign-and-trade with Vegas. But they’re not done yet.
What they really need is someone who can play alongside superstar Auston Matthews on the top line, or fit in with William Nylander and John Tavares on the second unit.
Roslovic could be that guy, though he’s more of a steady contributor than a game-breaker. He’s been good for 30-40 points pretty consistently since 2020, and just matched his career-best with 22 goals for the Hurricanes last season.
He’s the kind of player who can slot in anywhere in your top nine forwards. But here’s the thing – the Leafs might be hoping for someone with a bit more scoring punch.
They’ve got options. With almost $5M in cap space, they could make a trade happen. Several reports suggest they’re open to dealing, and they might even try to move out guys like Calle Jarnkrok or David Kampf in the process.
The trade market’s getting pretty thin, but there are still some interesting possibilities. Former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, now running things in Pittsburgh, has both Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust potentially available.
Landing either of those players would be better than settling for Roslovic – if Toronto can put together an attractive enough package. That might be tricky though, since they’ve traded away most of their draft picks in recent years.
