The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t made any changes to their forward group, but one trade proposal involving the Buffalo Sabres could change that.
PuckPedia recently introduced a tool called PuckGM, allowing users to create their own trade scenarios. In one of these, a user suggested that the Maple Leafs acquire Jordan Greenway from the Sabres.
Trade details:
**Maple Leafs receive:**
– Jordan Greenway (with $1.5 million of his salary retained)
**Sabres receive:**
– Pontus Holmberg
– 2025 second-round pick (Florida’s)
This trade makes sense for Toronto, as Greenway is a gritty, veteran forward who could bolster their bottom-six scoring, an area the Leafs need to improve. Buffalo would retain $1.5 million of Greenway’s $3 million salary, as he enters the final year of his three-year, $9 million contract.
Greenway, who has played 401 NHL games, has accumulated 52 goals and 99 assists for a total of 151 points. Last season with Buffalo, he tallied 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points in 67 games.
As for Holmberg, the 25-year-old aligns better with Buffalo’s younger core and could see a larger role with the Sabres. He’s on the final year of a contract worth $800,000 and last season recorded 7 goals and 10 assists for 17 points in 54 games.
Maple Leafs GM Expects More Moves to Happen
Since their major July 1st additions of Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Anthony Stolarz, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been relatively quiet on the trade front.
Entering the offseason, the Leafs were one of the most talked-about teams, with speculation surrounding potential trades involving Mitch Marner and John Tavares. Although those deals haven’t materialized, general manager Brad Treliving hasn’t ruled out the possibility of making more moves before the season kicks off.
“We’ve still got about five weeks until camp, and we’re not done yet. We’re always looking for ways to improve,” Treliving said during an appearance on *OverDrive* on TSN 1050. “At the end of the season, I said we’d consider everything. Some people are eager for big changes just for the sake of change, but unless a move truly makes our team better, it doesn’t make sense to do it just to say we did.”
While it’s unclear what additional moves the Leafs might pursue, according to PuckPedia, they currently have just over $1.2 million in available cap space.
Sabres GM Expects Team to Compete for a Playoff Spot
The Buffalo Sabres have had an active offseason, signing forwards Jason Zucker, Sam Lafferty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel, as well as defenseman Dennis Gilbert, in free agency. They also made trades to acquire Beck Malenstyn and Ryan McLeod.
Having missed the playoffs since the 2010-11 season, general manager Kevyn Adams is confident the Sabres are now a tougher opponent.
“We had specific goals this offseason, and I believe we’re a much better team today,” Adams said.
He emphasized that the team wanted to be “harder to play against,” bringing more physicality and identity to the bottom six. Adams noted that the focus was on creating a team that could be relentless on the forecheck, wear down opponents, and be more defensively responsible.
Buffalo will open its 2024-25 NHL season on October 4 against the New Jersey Devils.
