Maple Leafs' Right-Shot Winger Problem: One Injury From a Lopsided Lineup

The Maple Leafs need a right-shot winger, and the reason is stark

The Maple Leafs' right-shot winger problem is one of the quieter issues on Toronto's roster, and it hides in plain sight. By one recent accounting of the projected forward group, William Nylander is the only right-handed shot among the Leafs' regular forwards. Lose Nylander to an injury for a night, and Toronto is one move away from icing a forward corps with 12 left-handed shots.

That is not a crisis on opening night. Nylander is durable and the Leafs are deep enough to survive a game here or there. But it is a structural imbalance, and it is exactly the kind of detail a new coaching staff notices when it starts drawing up lines and power-play units. A right-shot winger is on Toronto's shopping list for a reason.

Why handedness actually matters

Shot handedness is not a cosmetic stat. It changes how a line functions. A right-shot winger on the right side plays on his forehand along the wall, which makes breakouts cleaner and gives a bench boss more natural options. A right shot on his off wing — the left side — opens up one-timer lanes that a lefty simply cannot replicate from the same spot.

The clearest place this shows up is the power play. Elite units are built around a threat who can one-time a cross-ice feed, and the geometry of that pass depends on handedness. Nylander's right shot is a big part of why Toronto's first unit works; without a second right-shot option, the coaching staff is forced to load one side and hope. Our look at the Alfredsson power-play hire gets into how much that geometry matters for a unit that needs fixing.

The one-injury scenario

Here is the practical worry. NHL seasons are attrition. Over 84 games — the league's first schedule expansion since 1994 — every team loses top-six forwards to injury for stretches. If Nylander misses time, Toronto does not just lose his production; it loses its only natural right-shot presence up front, and the whole lineup tilts left.

A lopsided forward group is playable, but it is a disadvantage against structured teams that pressure the walls and force weak-side plays. Coaches end up asking left shots to play the off wall, which slows breakouts and dulls the shot threat. It is the sort of thing that costs a team a couple of goals a month — invisible in any single game, real over a full season. You can see the full forward alignment in our projected 2026-27 lineup.

Oliver Bjorkstrand is the obvious fit

The cleanest solution on the open market is Oliver Bjorkstrand. The 31-year-old Danish winger shoots right and is coming off a down year with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he managed 12 goals and 32 points in 80 games while averaging just 13:38 of ice time. Tampa never found a role that fit his skills, and his value dipped accordingly.

That is precisely why he makes sense for Toronto. Bjorkstrand is a reliable two-way winger and a genuine offensive producer when he plays real minutes. On the right side of whichever line Nylander does not occupy, he would balance the forward group instantly and give Toronto a second right-shot option for the second power-play unit. He is a bounce-back candidate motivated to rebuild his value on a shorter deal — the kind of low-risk signing Chayka has favoured all summer.

The fit is stylistic as well as structural. Bjorkstrand is not a passenger; he drives play, forechecks, and has posted 20-goal seasons when deployed as a genuine top-nine winger rather than a fourth option. A change of scenery to a team that would actually give him power-play time and top-nine minutes is the classic profile of a UFA who outperforms his contract. For Toronto, the appeal is getting a middle-six scorer at a discount because his last stop misused him — the sort of value the Leafs need given how little cap room they have to work with.

The other options on the board

Bjorkstrand is not the only route. The remaining UFA market still holds right-shot names such as Jesse Puljujarvi, Reilly Smith and Philipp Kurashev, each with a different risk profile. Toronto also re-signed and added forwards earlier in the summer as part of its forward-group makeover, so the need here is for balance and insurance, not a top-six overhaul.

The trade route is live too. Chayka kept his draft capital largely intact and has been clear he is still hunting. A right-shot winger could come as a secondary piece in a larger deal rather than a standalone signing. Cap space is the constraint — Toronto's sheet is tight — so any addition likely has to be a value contract. Check the current commitments on our contracts page before penciling anyone in.

The counterargument

It is fair to ask whether handedness is overrated. Plenty of good wingers play their off wing full time and thrive — Nylander himself has bounced across both sides. A skilled left shot on the right wall can make the reads work, and modern systems are flexible enough to hide the imbalance most nights. Toronto is not going to lose games in a straight line because of a handedness count.

But depth is about the bad nights, not the good ones. The point of a right-shot addition is not to fix a broken lineup; it is to make sure one Nylander injury does not tilt the entire forward group. That is cheap insurance for a team with real Cup-adjacent ambitions and very little margin in a loaded division.

What a longer season does to the math

The handedness question gets sharper because of the schedule. The NHL has expanded to 84 games — its first schedule expansion since 1994 — and more games mean more miles on every top-six forward. Toronto is asking its stars to carry a heavier load across a longer grind, and the odds that Nylander misses a stretch somewhere in there go up, not down, with the extra dates.

Depth is the currency of a long season. Teams that survive 84 games and a playoff run are the ones that can absorb an injury to a key piece without their structure collapsing. A single right-shot winger will not decide Toronto's season, but it is the kind of low-cost redundancy that separates teams built for a marathon from teams built for a good week in October. Chayka has spent the summer adding exactly this sort of depth to the bottom six; the top-six handedness balance is the last piece of the same puzzle.

It also frees the coaching staff. With a second right shot available, Hiller and his staff can mix and match lines without worrying about stacking one side, and they can keep a balanced look on both power-play units even when injuries hit. That flexibility is worth more over 84 games than any single night's box score suggests.

What's next

Expect Toronto to add a right-shot winger before camp, most likely on a value contract or as part of a trade. Bjorkstrand is the name that fits the profile best, but the specific player matters less than the fix. The Leafs have spent the summer chasing balance — a right shot up front is the last obvious gap. Keep tabs on the roster moves and cap gymnastics on our players page as the pieces settle before September.