Djurasevic Signs Two-Year AHL Deal
- The Maple Leafs have dipped into college free agency again. This time, their AHL affiliate announced that they’ve signed defenseman Frank Djurasevic to a two-year deal beginning next season. The blueliner will still join the Marlies now, just on a tryout agreement. Djurasevic had one year of eligibility remaining but instead will turn pro now. This season, the 24-year-old saw his production get cut in half at the University of Maine. In 2024-25, Djurasevic had 28 points in 37 games but he was limited to just 14 in 34 contests this season.
Maple Leafs Reassign Bo Groulx
The Maple Leafs have assigned center Benoit-Olivier Groulx to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, the team’s media relations department announced Friday.
Groulx, 26, was recalled following the trade deadline earlier this month to serve as a fill-in down the middle after Scott Laughton was dealt to the Kings and captain Auston Matthews suffered a season-ending MCL injury. In his first NHL action in nearly two years, the 6’2″ middleman scored three goals and two assists for five points in nine games.
The Rouen, France, native is signed through next season after inking a two-year, $1.625MM contract last summer following a non-tender by the Rangers, with whom he spent the entire 2024-25 campaign in the minors. His efficient scoring performance, plus a +5 rating while averaging north of 15 minutes per game in heavy defensive usage, might very well make him a favorite to land a bottom-six center job in training camp next fall.
Groulx was a second-round pick by the Ducks in 2018. While he only scored a goal and five points in 65 games with them before they cut him loose with a non-tender in 2024, he’s demonstrated improved offensive acumen in the minors since getting a fresh start in the New York and Toronto organizations.
This season, Groulx is the Marlies’ scoring leader with a 27-23–50 line in 54 games. He “wanted to go down and help them and play,” head coach Craig Berube told reporters Friday (including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun), offering some insight into why he was flexed back down despite his strong performance in a middle-six role over the past few weeks.
With Matthews out, the Leafs no longer have an extra healthy forward on the active roster. If there’s an injury, they’ll need to make an emergency recall from the Marlies to ice 12 forwards.
Maple Leafs Sign Hayes Hundley To Entry-Level Deal
The Maple Leafs announced Friday that they’ve signed college free agent defenseman Hayes Hundley to a three-year, entry-level deal. Financial terms were not disclosed, but they did confirm the deal begins next season. He will finish out the current league year with AHL Toronto on a tryout.
Hundley, 21, turns pro after only one year in the NCAA with the University of St. Thomas. The 6’3″, 207-lb righty contributed a 6-6–12 scoring line and a +10 rating in 38 games for the Tommies, ranking fourth on the team’s blue line in scoring.
It’s a surprising development to see a previously unheralded, undrafted name go pro after only one year in the college circuit, but the Leafs were far from the only team to show interest in the shutdown rearguard, Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff reports. He’s the third free agent signing the Leafs have made from the NCAA in this year’s cycle, joining Northeastern defenseman Vincent Borgesi and Union forward Brandon Buhr.
An Ohio native, Hundley played several years in the Blue Jackets’ youth program before jumping to Tier II juniors with the Johnstown Tomahawks of the NAHL in 2023-24, which would have been his post-draft season if he had been selected when he was initially eligible. He then moved up to high-level juniors with the USHL’s Fargo Force, again staying just one year before heading to St. Thomas. If Hundley plays for the Marlies down the stretch, that will mean he’s jumped up four development levels in less than three calendar years, a rapid ascension.
Hundley’s contract gives Toronto 32 deals on the books for next year, with 18 contract slots remaining. He’ll be a restricted free agent in 2029.
Maple Leafs Reassign Dennis Hildeby
March 25: Hildeby has been reassigned back to AHL Toronto, the team announced. He did not dress for Tuesday’s win over the Bruins, as Stolarz started and made 18 saves on 20 shots.
March 23: The Maple Leafs announced they’ve recalled goaltender Dennis Hildeby from AHL Toronto on an emergency basis. He could dress tomorrow against the Bruins in place of Anthony Stolarz, who was scheduled to start Saturday night’s loss to the Senators but had to go to the hospital to get checked out after taking a puck to the throat during warmups. Stolarz skated with the team before practice this morning, sporting a neck guard, per Nick Barden of The Hockey News, so he shouldn’t miss too much time.
It has been an incredibly trying season for the 32-year-old Stolarz, losing his tenuous grip on the Leafs’ starting job to Joseph Woll. After back-to-back seasons of leading the league in save percentage in limited tandem/backup deployment, his numbers have taken a nosedive to a .894 SV%, 3.34 GAA, and 8-9-3 record in 21 starts and one relief appearance. He has accounted for -8.2 goals saved above expected after a great 25.8 figure last season, per MoneyPuck. That led to Toronto making him available at the trade deadline despite him signing a four-year, $15MM extension last September, but no deal was made.
Injuries have long stopped the high-ceiling Stolarz from ever becoming a true #1 option. That hasn’t changed this year. A lingering upper-body injury kept him out of the lineup for over two months earlier this year, rendering him unavailable for 33 games. With the playoffs out of reach in Toronto, there’s no reason for the Leafs to rush him back after what was surely a scary ordeal on Saturday, even if he’s been cleared.
For what it’s worth, they have a great third-string option in Hildeby. The 24-year-old was exceptional as Woll’s backup earlier this year when Stolarz was sidelined, recording a .910 SV%, 2.90 GAA and seven quality starts in 19 total outings. A lack of goal support meant he posted a 5-6-4 record, but his 8.9 goals saved above expected during that run are still far ahead of what Woll and Stolarz have produced with far more usage. With Hildeby losing his waiver-exempt status next season, the Leafs will want to find a way to keep him around.
Anthony Stolarz Taken To Hospital
At the very least, it suggests that the NHL DoPS isn’t feeling any outside pressure to change the way they assess supplementary discipline. After Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas was suspended for five games for delivering a knee-to-knee hit on Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews, who suffered a season-ending injury due to the incident, there was an outcry from fans and media for the DoPS to impose stricter discipline to prevent such situations in the future.
- Netminder Anthony Stolarz did not make his scheduled start tonight because of an injury suffered in warm-ups. Before the game, the Maple Leafs announced that Stolarz was struck in the neck by a puck during warm-ups and was subsequently taken to a local hospital for further testing. Toronto has not provided any additional updates regarding Stolarz since.
Morgan Rielly Out With Lower-Body Injury
- Staying in Ontario, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that defenseman Morgan Rielly would miss today’s game due to a lower-body injury. It is believed that Rielly did not suffer the injury due to any direct play in Toronto’s recent game against the Carolina Hurricanes, but rather re-aggravated an issue from earlier in the season. The 13-year veteran has scored nine goals and 33 points in 67 games for the Maple Leafs this season, averaging 21:15 of ice time.
[SOURCE LINK]
Stecher Hopes To Re-Sign With Toronto
It has been a rough stretch lately for the Maple Leafs, who have gone from a bubble team within striking distance of a Wild Card spot to one that is jockeying for seeding in the draft lottery. However, while some veterans may be hoping to move on after the season, blueliner Troy Stecher isn’t one of them. Speaking to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, the pending UFA made it clear that he’s hoping to re-sign with Toronto for next season. Claimed off waivers from Edmonton back in November, Stecher is averaging just shy of 20 minutes per game since then, providing the Maple Leafs with a nice return on a deal that sits just above the minimum salary. Given how he has played in Toronto, Stecher could be in line to double his current AAV of $787.5K on the open market this summer should he get there.
Maple Leafs Recall Michael Pezzetta
The Maple Leafs have added enforcer Michael Pezzetta back to the NHL roster ahead of tonight’s game against the Hurricanes, the team announced. He was sent down to the AHL on Tuesday to get some minor-league playing time after serving as a healthy scratch for Toronto the previous weekend, but now figures to get another look in the lineup.
The 28-year-old Pezzetta signed a two-year deal with the Leafs in the offseason, joining his hometown team. A sixth-round pick by the Canadiens way back in 2016, he’d spent his entire career in Montreal up to that point with a 15-23–38 scoring line, a -9 rating, 241 penalty minutes, and 710 hits in 200 games.
Pezzetta couldn’t find a way onto Toronto’s opening night roster amid a logjam of forwards, though, leading to his first AHL action in four years. He’s spent virtually the entire campaign in the minors after clearing waivers until getting recalled last week following the Leafs’ deadline sell-off. He suited up in games against the Ducks and Sabres on March 12 and 14, racking up nine PIMs while averaging just 5:06 per game.
Pezzetta primarily fills an enforcer/checking role in the AHL as well, but has demonstrated a tad more offensive utility than he has in the past. He’s notched four goals and 10 points in 38 games for the Marlies with 52 penalty minutes and a -7 rating.
It doesn’t appear the Leafs have any injury concerns among their 12 healthy forwards already rostered, so Pezzetta’s recall likely doesn’t qualify as an emergency. That means he counts as the third of five regular recalls that Toronto can make after the trade deadline.
Tim Erixon Announces Retirement
- Former NHL depth piece Tim Erixon has retired, he told Nathalie Vinroth of Swedish newspaper Sundsvalls Tidning this week. The 23rd overall pick by the Flames in the 2009 draft, he went on to play 93 games in parts of four years with the Rangers, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, and Maple Leafs. He last saw NHL ice in 2015 and last played in the minors in 2019 before returning home to bookend his career in the Swedish Hockey League. The 35-year-old won an SHL championship with the Växjö Lakers in 2021 and has been with Timrå IK ever since, although he’s played just six games since the beginning of 2024-25 due to ongoing back issues aggravated by a foot fracture.
Auston Matthews Undergoes MCL Surgery, Out For Season
March 19: Matthews underwent successful surgery to repair his MCL tear today in New York City, the team announced. The procedure carries a 12-week recovery timeline, meaning he shouldn’t have any issue hitting the ground running for training camp in the fall.
March 13: After sustaining a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim’s Radko Gudas on Thursday night, the Maple Leafs won’t have their captain down the stretch. The team announced (Twitter link) that center Auston Matthews will miss the remainder of the season due to a Grade Three MCL tear. He will be reevaluated in two weeks and a further update will be provided at that time.
The injury brings a premature end to what has been a tough season for the 28-year-old. After lingering injuries slowed Matthews down off and on at times last season, the hope was that he’d come into this year fully healthy and get back to the level that saw him win three Rocket Richard trophies for the most goals in four years. With Mitch Marner now in Vegas, they were counting on him to be able to shoulder more of the load offensively.
However, that hasn’t happened. In between dealing with a pair of short-term lower-body injuries, Matthews saw his production drop even further this season. After putting up 78 points in 63 games in 2024-25, he was limited to just 27 goals and 26 assists in 60 outings this season. His goal earlier in Friday’s game snapped a 12-game goalless drought, allowing him to avoid tying his career-long stretch in that regard, set back in his rookie season back in 2016-17. Instead of leading the way offensively, Matthews finds himself fourth in team scoring and will likely stay there with Oliver Ekman-Larsson (who’s fifth) being 18 points behind.
Matthews has two years remaining on his current contract, one that carries a $13.25MM AAV that was briefly the richest in NHL history. It’s fair to say that Toronto hasn’t received fair value on that agreement so far given his reduction in production over the past two years. They’ll have to hope that the extended time off before next season will help spur his offense forward in the second half of the agreement.
His absence could also have an impact in the draft lottery. Toronto will retain its first-round pick if they land in the top five of the draft after the lottery. (If they pick outside that range, the selection goes to Boston.) The Maple Leafs are tied for eighth-last in the league right now, five points ahead of St. Louis, which is currently 28th. However, without their number one center in the lineup down the stretch, they could be primed to fall a little further in the standings.
Meanwhile, Gudas had a phone hearing with the Department of Player Safety earlier today as part of the supplemental discipline process. That will cap a potential suspension at no more than five games. With Anaheim in action both Saturday and Sunday, a decision on that front should come before too long.