Maple Leafs Depth Signings: Lettieri, Hlavaj, McWard and Rybinski Round Out the Roster

Four more names to close out the frenzy

The Maple Leafs depth signings kept coming on Friday, with Toronto adding forward Vinni Lettieri, goaltender Samuel Hlavaj, defenceman Cole McWard and centre Henrik Rybinski to fill out the organization ahead of 2026-27. None of the four is a headline, but together they finish the job John Chayka started during a wild free-agent frenzy that reshaped the roster in 48 hours.

These are the moves that build a functional 23-man roster and a competitive Marlies team underneath it — the unglamorous depth work every contender needs. After a week dominated by the Zach Werenski trade saga and a run of splashy additions, this was the quiet clean-up.

It is also a reminder of how much the modern game is won on the margins. The 2026 Marlies did not win a Calder Cup because of one star; they won it because the organization stacked capable, experienced professionals throughout the lineup. Chayka is applying the same logic to the parent club — signing players who make the 20th, 21st and 22nd spots on the roster genuinely competent rather than an afterthought.

Vinni Lettieri cashes in on a Calder Cup run

The most earned contract of the group belongs to Vinni Lettieri. The 31-year-old winger led all AHL players in postseason scoring with 11 goals and 26 points in 23 games, driving the Toronto Marlies to their first Calder Cup championship since 2018. That kind of playoff production earns a look, and Toronto rewarded it with a one-year deal.

Lettieri is not a stranger to the NHL — he has 155 games of big-league experience — and he gives the Leafs a genuine call-up option who can score at the AHL level and hold his own in a pinch up top. On a roster squeezed hard against the cap, cheap, proven depth that can be summoned without penalty is exactly the kind of asset Chayka needs stacked in the Marlies room.

Samuel Hlavaj adds an Olympic goaltender to the pipeline

In net, the Leafs signed Samuel Hlavaj to a one-year contract. The 25-year-old split last season between the AHL's Iowa Wild and the ECHL's Iowa Heartlanders, going 7-11-4 with an .887 save percentage and a 3.28 goals-against average in 22 games for the Wild. He also represented Slovakia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, posting a 2-3-0 record with a .908 save percentage.

Hlavaj is organizational goaltending depth, plain and simple. With the crease reshuffled this summer — Bobrovsky in, others out — the Leafs need bodies who can carry an AHL net and survive an emergency recall. Hlavaj fits that brief. He is not blocking anyone's path to Toronto; he is insurance behind it.

Cole McWard and Henrik Rybinski get two-year deals

The other two signings came on two-year terms. Defenceman Cole McWard signed a two-year contract with an NHL average annual value of $875,000 on a one-way structure, while centre Henrik Rybinski inked a two-year, two-way deal that also carries an $875,000 NHL cap hit.

McWard's one-way money is the more interesting detail. A one-way deal at the league minimum signals the Leafs see him as more than filler — a defenceman they expect to be NHL-adjacent, capable of stepping in when injuries hit the back end. Given how thin Toronto's blue line depth looked at points last season, a mobile, cost-controlled option on a one-way contract is a sensible add.

Rybinski is a two-way centre who profiles as a Marlies leader and injury call-up down the middle. Neither player is expected to unseat a regular out of camp, but both give Jim Hiller's staff flexibility and the Marlies a stronger spine.

Why cheap depth matters more than usual this year

Depth signings rarely move the needle for a fanbase chasing a Stanley Cup, but the context makes these ones matter. Toronto is pressed against the salary cap after adding nine players in two days, which means the 13th forward, seventh defenceman and third goaltender all have to come at or near the minimum. Every dollar the Leafs can save at the margins is a dollar that helps them stay compliant.

It also means the Marlies matter. A team this tight against the cap will lean on cheap internal call-ups all season rather than making in-season additions, so the quality of the depth chart directly affects the NHL club. Lettieri, McWard and Rybinski are the names most likely to see NHL minutes if the injury bug bites, and getting them signed now avoids a scramble in October. You can see how the money stacks up on the contracts page.

How these four fit the depth chart

Slot them in and the picture is straightforward. Lettieri is the first forward call-up — a scorer who can ride shotgun on a scoring line for a few games without the team falling apart. McWard is the first defence recall, the seventh-and-a-half defenceman a cap team needs when the inevitable injuries hit. Rybinski centres a Marlies line and provides a middle-of-the-ice emergency option. Hlavaj carries an AHL net so the Leafs never have to burn an emergency-backup scramble in Toronto.

It is not glamorous, but it is coherent. Each of the four fills a specific, predictable gap, and none of them costs enough to matter against the cap. For a team this tight on money, the ability to plug a hole from within — rather than paying a premium at the trade deadline — is worth more than the modest dollar figures suggest.

The Marlies are the hidden winner

There is a second beneficiary of these moves that gets overlooked: the Toronto Marlies. A defending Calder Cup champion that keeps Lettieri, adds a one-way defenceman in McWard and a two-way centre in Rybinski, and slots Hlavaj into its crease is a team built to compete again. That matters for reasons beyond banners. A strong AHL affiliate is where cost-controlled call-ups come from, where prospects like Gavin McKenna and Ben Danford can be developed at the right pace, and where a cap-strapped NHL team finds cheap reinforcements in March.

Toronto spent years with a thin, uncompetitive farm system that could not reliably produce NHL help. Rebuilding the Marlies into a genuine pipeline is one of the quieter, more important things Chayka has done — and Friday's signings are a direct extension of it. The best organizations treat their AHL team as an asset, not an afterthought.

The full picture of a two-day makeover

Zoom out and the volume is striking. Between the Bobrovsky signing, the Nick Paul trade, the Sissons-Blueger-Roslovic forward additions and now four more depth pieces, Chayka has added roughly nine players to the organization since free agency opened. That is a near-total overhaul of the roster's edges in the span of a long weekend.

The through-line is the same one Chayka has preached all summer: deeper, faster, bigger, heavier. The Lettieri, Hlavaj, McWard and Rybinski signings do not change the ceiling of this team, but they do something almost as valuable — they give the Leafs a real floor.

What's next

With the depth chart filled in, the Leafs' remaining business is bigger and harder: sorting out the top-pairing defence question, resolving the Morgan Rielly conversation, and finding a trade to become cap compliant before the season. The depth signings are done. The heavy lifting is not. For where all of this leaves the roster, see our look at the 2026-27 Leafs roster taking shape, and keep an eye on the players page for the updated depth chart.