Maple Leafs’ Players With the Most Opportunity in 2026-27

With a new season comes new opportunities. Not just for the team as a whole, but for the players within it. The Toronto Maple Leafs added nine players to their everyday roster and saw six players walk out the door, via either trade or free agency, giving multiple players chances to stand out in the lineup.

Let’s break down who may have the biggest and best opportunity come September.

Gavin McKenna & Easton Cowan

It might be unfair to lump these two into the same conversation, but hey, if the shoe fits, right? Both of these players have the opportunity to be in the top-six, and they should get that chance fairly early in training camp and into the season. I think Gavin McKenna has the best shot to land a spot beside Auston Matthews, but he could just as easily start beside John Tavares.

Easton Cowan is coming off of a rookie campaign that saw him net 11 goals and 29 points in 66 games. There were moments, of course, where he looked like a rookie. No doubt. However, there were just as many situations where we saw glimpses of what this kid could become. Even when he struggled, he rarely looked overwhelmed or out of place. In addition to his first season in the NHL, Cowan was instrumental in helping the Leafs’ AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, win the Calder Cup with eight goals and 18 points in 22 games.

Then, there’s the first pick of the 2026 NHL Draft, McKenna. The 18-year-old had 79 goals and 244 points in 133 games in the Western Hockey League (WHL) before scoring 15 goals and 51 points with Penn State last season. There’s been some debate as to how NHL-ready he is, but everyone agrees this kid should be a star as his career rolls along.

With Matthews and Tavares one and two at centre, and Matthew Knies and William Nylander on the right side, there’s no one, aside from maybe Jack Roslovic, who screams top-six other than these two guys. While they both can put the puck in the net, their real strengths offensively are making plays and distributing the puck to the right spots in the zone. That makes either line a great spot for these two to get their feet wet in the NHL.

If they can’t, Roslovic and veteran Nick Paul will most likely jump up and down the lineup, but McKenna and Cowan should get first dibs at those top two lines.

Jack Roslovic

Now, with all of that said, Roslovic is next on my list. The reality is that McKenna and Cowan are in their rookie and sophomore seasons, respectively, and it’s hard to count on both of them being mainstays on the top lines for all 84 games. Enter Roslovic.

On the one hand, the 29-year-old vet is really the only other option on a roster that is thin on top-six talent. But, on the other hand, he has proven that he has it in him to keep up with the big boys. While he didn’t play a ton with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (he played more with Draisaitl) last season, he did play with them and was productive overall with the Edmonton Oilers, putting up 21 goals and 39 points in 69 games. He also had 22 goals and 39 points in 81 games with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2024-25.

Aside from 22 goals and 45 points in 81 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets back in 2021-22, the last two seasons have been his best from an offensive standpoint. On paper, I like a third line of him with Paul and Colton Sissons. But if the situation calls for it, it’s worth giving him a shot with the big boys.

Emil Andrae

In addition to all the other trades and signings the Maple Leafs made this summer, they also extended defenseman Troy Stecher to a two-year deal, which means Emil Andrae probably won’t play all 84 games on Toronto’s blue line. However, by the end of the season, I think Andrae could be a fixture on the backend.

Andrae has played only 107 games over the course of the last three seasons, and still has learning and growing to do when it comes to being a big-league defenseman. At the same time, his most well-known attribute is that he’s a great puck mover, which is something the Leafs were horrible at last season.

In theory, Toronto already has a pretty good D-core, but they are also pretty old. Out of the seven players currently on this roster, Andrae is the only one who is under 30. Whether it’s due to injury or bad play, the 24-year-old Swede should be able to play himself into some regular playing time.

Plenty Of Opportunity to Go Around

Those are the four players that I am looking at the most, but there are plenty of honourable mentions to go around. Darren Raddysh is clearly one, but he will get a lot of the same chances he did in Tampa Bay last season. Paul is another guy who could potentially move up and down the lineup if the Leafs get desperate.

You could also argue that Artur Akhtyamov deserves to be on this list, and I wouldn’t disagree. His three games in the NHL were not overly flattering, but no goalie had a flattering season while dressed in blue and white. But in the AHL, Akhtyamov had a terrific season for the Marlies, going 18-10-4 with a 2.86 goals-against average (GAA) and a .904 save percentage (SV%). In the playoffs, he went 15-7 with a 2.22 GAA, .923 SV%, and posted two shutouts.

The reason why I bring him up is that, one, backup netminder Anthony Stolarz has been inconsistent health-wise throughout his career. Second, is that Sergei Bobrovsky is 38 years old and coming off a disappointing season according to his standards. He might bounce back and be the Hall-of-Fame goaltender we all know and love. But with age, there is always a possibility that he could get hurt and won’t be available to play.

This team is entirely different, player-wise anyway, than anything we’ve seen over the last few seasons. Make no mistake, the Maple Leafs will still live and die on the production of Matthews, Tavares, and Nylander. Also, despite what I said about Akhtyamov, I do think that Bobrovsky is vital to any success Toronto might have. But, as always in the NHL, it takes a team, and these players have the ability to stand out in one of the more anticipated seasons the Leafs have had in a while.