Rifai suffered the injury last night in a preseason game against the Montreal Canadiens. The 27-year-old Rifai will likely spend most of the season with the Marlies (AHL) upon his return, as he did last season when he tallied 13 points (3G / 10A) in 63 games.
Entering his third season in Toronto, Max Domi has been limited throughout the first couple days of training camp due to a lower-body injury. The 30-year-old forward is entering his 11th NHL season after a down year in 2024-25, where he had eight goals, 33 points and 93 SOG in 74 games played. He is expected to return to a complimentary role with the Maple Leafs yet again in 2024-25.
Paul is expected to miss the start of the season after successfully undergoing surgery on Friday on an upper-body injury. The 30-year-old will have to wait to start his 11th NHL campaign as he is expected to return in November at the earliest. Tampa will miss his presence early only after he had 22 goals, 41 points and 141 SOG in 76 games played last season.
William Villeneuve will return to the Toronto Marlies (AHL) for a fourth straight season after signing a one-year, two-way contract with the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. The 23-year-old puck-moving defender was Toronto's 2020 4th-round pick (122nd overall) but has yet to make his first NHL appearance despite solid offensive numbers every season with the Marlies. He is expected to start 2025-26 as one of the Marlies' main defenders after his four-goal, 40-point season last year across 55 games played.
Toronto continued to add to their forward depth on Thursday after the team announced they have traded a 2028 4th-round pick to Vancouver for left-winger, Dakota Joshua. The 28-year-old is in the 2nd year of a four-year, $13 million contract ($3.25M AAV) and should slide in nicely on Toronto's third line with his physical play style. Vancouver will be happy to shed the cap space after Joshua put up a disappointing seven goals and 14 points in 57 games played last season, while Toronto will be hoping he can return to his 2023-24 form (18G/32Pts) with a full, healthy training camp.
Toronto has signed their 2024 5th round pick (151st overall) on Tuesday after agreeing to a three-year, entry-level contract with Miroslav Holinka. The 19-year-old Czech forward spent 2024-25 as an import for Edmonton (WHL) and succeeded in his inaugural North American season with 19 goals and 45 points in 47 games played. He is expected to return to Edmonton for the 2025-26 season.
Vinni Lettieri will join his third NHL team in three years after signing a one-year, $775,000 contract with Toronto on Wednesday. The 30-year-old forward is expected to compete for a bottom-six spot in training camp after putting up three goals and five points in 26 games with Boston in 2024-25.
Groulx was the 54th overall pick of the Anaheim Ducks in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs after spending most of his career with the Ducks organization. The 25-year-old scored 37 points (15G / 22A) in 47 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Mermis played four NHL games last season, splitting time between Utah and Toronto, but spent most of the campaign in the AHL. He had seven points (0G / 7A) in 32 games with the Toronto Marlies.
After spending the first four seasons of his career with the Montreal Canadiens, Pezzetta joins a division rival in the Toronto Maple Leafs on a two-year deal worth $787.5K. The 27-year-old Pezzetta was limited to only 25 games last season and was unable to score a single point. He has 38 points (15G / 23A) in 200 career games and will likely be fighting for a fourth-line role on the Maple Leafs in 2025-26.
Lorentz matched a career-high 19 points (8G / 11A) playing 80 games in his first season with the Maple Leafs and has signed a three-year contract extension worth $1.35M AAV. The 29-year-old was a seventh-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and averaged 10:33 time-on-ice last season.
Vegas moved on from six-year veteran Nicolas Hague on Sunday when they agreed to a deal with Nashville for Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon. Sissons is a 31-year-old centre who should battle for a bottom-six position with Vegas in 2025-26. He appeared in 72 games with Nashville in 2024-25, producing his lowest goal (7), point (21) and SOG (80) totals since 2020-21.
Toronto can take a key item off their off-season "to-do" list after signing restricted free agent Matthew Knies to a six-year, $46.5 million contract extension ($7.75 million AAV). The 22-year-old left-winger took a massive step forward in 2024-25, occupying Toronto's top-six throughout the season while putting up 29 goals, 58 points and a +7 plus/minus in 78 games played.
Tavares takes a massive pay-cut to stay with his hometown team. Even at age-34, Tavares looked every bit of No.2 centre in 2024-25, posting 38 goals with 36 assists (74 points) in 74 games. He'll once again settle in behind Auston Matthews on the centre depth chart in 2025-26 and will likely be a 30-30 player for the third time in four years.
Rybinski is coming off his third and most successful AHL season with Hershey and has earned himself a one-year, two-way contract extension worth $775,000 with Washington. The 24-year-old forward was the Capitals' 2019 5th-round pick (136th overall) and is expected to spend 2025-26 back with Hershey, where he had 10 goals and 35 points in 60 games last season.
The Panthers will of course turn to Bobrovsky between the pipes when they look to etch their names on the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive season on Tuesday. Bobrovsky turned in another solid performance in Game 5, stopping 19 of the 21 shots he faced enroute to the 5-2 victory. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner has been a reliable backstop all post-season long for Florida, posting a .912 SV% and 2.26 GAA across 22 appearances. Bobrovsky and the Panthers enter action on Tuesday at -165 on the money line.
Stecher suited up for Games 4 and 5 but will come out of the lineup for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. John Klingberg will re-enter the Oilers lineup to replace Stecher.
After allowing three or fewer goals in nine straight (7-2), posting a stellar .944 SV%, Bobrovsky has allowed four or more in three of four games (2-2) to start the Stanley Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers, posting a .913 SV%. The 36-year-old Bobrovsky has a 2.27 GAA and .913 SV% in 21 games this postseason (14-7).
