The Leafs Lab Ep. 13: Breaking Down the Leafs' July 1 Shopping and Early 2026-27 Projections

Free agency is in the books — and the Leafs made a lot of moves. Whether they made the right ones is a different conversation On this week's episode of *The Leafs Lab Podcast*, we start with the Barrett Hayton offer sheet the Leafs didn't do — and why that might be the most frustrating decision of the entire offseason (1:15). From there, we share our early overall thoughts on what Chayka put together on July 1st and what it tells us about the direction of this franchise (6:30). Then we work through every signing and trade one by one. Troy Stecher re-signs (10:23), we get into Jack Roslovic — a move we're not thrilled about (14:35). Then the big one: Sergei Bobrovsky on three years at $7 million (24:50). From there it's Colton Sissons (36:37), Teddy Blueger (44:34), Brandon Duhaime (48:29), Nick Robertson is traded (53:20), and the best move of the day — the Nick Paul trade (54:39). We also get into the Zach Werenski deal that never happened and what it means for this team's defensive ceiling going forward (1:09:02), before taking a step back and breaking down Chayka's overall team-building philosophy and whether it's the right approach for a team trying to contend (1:14:00). We close things out projecting the 2026-27 lines as they currently stand (1:27:44) and sharing our season predictions and what still needs to get done before training camp (1:34:10). The floor is better. The ceiling is still a question. Let's get into it. Intro/Outro music by Chad Walt Spotify: (https://open.spotify.com/artist/5gaejVfjk7KebwksgFtw13) Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/officialchadwalt/) Like, share, and subscribe for more episodes of ***The Leafs Lab Podcast***. You can find us on all major platforms—just search ***The Leafs Lab Podcast.*** Follow us on Twitter *@nylanderthews* (https://x.com/nylanderthews) and *@TheLeafZone44* (https://x.com/TheLeafZone44). Feel free to reach out with any questions, topics, or ideas you’d like us to cover. * * * Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.