The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team that have not had a quiet offseason in the slightest. They have been making moves all summer with next year’s squad set to look considerably different than the one that was eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the playoffs this past May.
With that being said, Toronto does not appear to be content with resting on their laurels. Arguably no team in the NHL will have more pressure on them to perform this season than the Leafs.
Insider James Mirtle of The Athletic believes the Leafs still want to add to their forward group, with the club eying another edition to their top 6 as the 25-26 campaign approaches.
Why do the Leafs want an addition to the top 6?
The Leafs have already made a flurry of additions to their offense this past offseason with names such as Matias Macceli, Nicholas Roy and Dakota Joshua joining the party. While the Leafs forward depth is no doubt impressive, the team will be lacking as much top end scoring this year with the loss of Mitch Marner. The organization could use another top 6 star piece in the pipeline to help offset this major loss.
At the moment the Leafs top 6 consists of Knies-Matthews-Macceli on line 1 and Domi-Tavares-Nylander on line 2. 4 of these 6 pieces Toronto can feel pretty confident in having established themselves as core members. The two that are question marks are Max Domi and Matias Maccelli. Domi has bounced around throughout the Leafs lineup throughout his 2 year stint in Toronto in a mostly middle 6 role. The Leafs acquired Macceli hoping he can be the top 6 presence Domi has not lived up to.
If Macceli does not live up to the billing, the Leafs may have no choice but to make further maneuvers. Their other offseason additions of Roy and Joshua are solid, but probable bottom 6 players in this rotation.
It will be interesting to see where Toronto looks when it comes to filling this perceived top 6 forward need if/when the time comes.
