Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka has proved early on into his tenure he loves making trades.

Chayka’s pulled off two surprising moves in less than a month on the job and with free agency opening on July 1, it’s going to be interesting to see how this Maple Leafs’ roster looks come September. It’s great to see Chayka feels the Leafs can stay in win-now mode, and all the roster decisions he’s making are to win a Stanley Cup as soon as possible.

With talent coming in, it means there’s talent going out and expect to see some current Maple Leafs shipped out before the puck drops on next season. However, with all the trade protection that’s being handed out around the league, Maple Leafs GM has to navigate which players have trade protection on their contracts, and which ones don’t.

Brandon Carlo was set to be on this list, but the Maple Leafs got a jump on trading him, sending him to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for two third round picks in Saturday’s draft. With that being known, there are two Maple Leafs whose trade protection changes on July 1, 2026:

Stolarz is entering the first year of a four-year contract extension and sees his trade protection change from an eight-team no-trade clause, up to a 16-team no-trade clause. His salary also jumps from $2.5 million AAV to a still very reasonable $3.75 million AAV.

With Woll traded to the Flyers, and with two inexperienced netminders ready to battle it out for the backup position, Stolarz seems like a very unlikely trade candidate at this point. Yes, he’s a bit of a flight risk based on his ability to stay healthy. The best ability is availability, and for Stolarz, if he’s not able to be the reliable veteran 1A starter the Maple Leafs need this season, don’t be surprised to see Chayka pull the trigger on a move midseason.

Entering this offseason, it’s going to take a blockbuster move to see Stolarz shipped out of town. Artur Akhtyamov and Dennis Hildeby are NHL ready, but you can’t hand over the keys to two goalies with minimal NHL experience. Instead, if Stolarz does get moved sometime soon, expect to see a proven NHL starter coming back the other way.

Yes, it’s true, Raddysh’s trade protection changes on July 1, and he’ll walk into his brand new eight-year, $8.5 million AAV extension, which also carries a full no-movement clause until the 2032 season. Raddysh is the one Maple Leaf who is certainly the least likely to be traded at this point.

Chayka added Raddysh to shore up the right side of their blueline, and to also give the top power-play unit something it’s been missing for over a decade – a right-handed defenceman who can absolutely pepper the puck from the blueline. Raddysh lead the league in shots over 90mph last season, and frankly, it wasn’t even close.

Get ready to watch him blasts the puck from the blueline on a very frequent basis, which will do wonders for the Maple Leafs, because how many times watching last season, can you remember yelling ‘shoooot’ at the TV? Raddysh isn’t shy to let it go, and you know, especially early on next season, the Leafs will be feeding him on a very frequent basis, looking to get him going early on as a Leaf.

Raddysh’s new contract is a huge risk, but one that Chayka wanted to take. The Toronto native is jumping from $975,000 AAV to $8.5 million AAV, but with the production, and the fit, the Maple Leafs felt it was a risk worth taking.