Morning Coffee: Maple Leafs, Panthers set to face off again In Free Agent Frenzy

The Toronto Maple Leafs pushed the Florida Panthers to the brink of elimination in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

One month later, the Maple Leafs and Panthers are set to face off again on a different stage.

Free Agent Frenzy.

After going back-to-back at Stanley Cup champions, the Panthers will shift their focus to a potential three-peat with a handful of free agents set to hit the open market.

Sam Bennett set an NHL record with 13 road goals and led the league with 15 total to earn the Conn Smythe Trophy as this year’s playoff MVP.

Coming off a career-high 51 points in the regular season, no pending UFA’s value saw a bigger surge than Bennett.

Meanwhile, Brad Marchand will be remembered as the biggest trade deadline day steal in NHL history after he averaged nearly a point per game in the postseason and finished as the second choice in the Conn Smythe Trophy winner market at FanDuel.

Bennett, Marchand, Aaron Ekblad, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares can all be found among the top 11 pending UFAs in this year’s TSN Free Agent rankings.

With only 12 days to go until the start of NHL free agency, five of the top 11 pending UFAs went head-to-head when Florida beat Toronto in seven games in the second round.

Now the Maple Leafs and Panthers are set to face off again during the summer signing period.

With a potential postseason rematch between Toronto and Florida forecasted for next spring, the road to the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs begins now.

This is Morning Coffee for Thursday June 19th, 2025.

Maple Leafs, Panthers Set To Face Off Again In Free Agent Frenzy

The Panthers are the third team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions since they entered the league in 1993-94.

No team has won the Stanley Cup three years in a row since the New York Islanders won four-straight between 1980 and 1983.

Florida opened +750 to three-peat at FanDuel.

The Maple Leafs opened +2400 as the 11th choice to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel – a significant difference from a year ago when they opened +1400 as the ninth choice.

That number will rise, or fall based on the moves that the Toronto management team makes in free agency and at the NHL Draft in the coming weeks and months.

It starts with the players at or near the top of this year’s TSN Free Agent Rankings.

Marner remains the top pending UFA on that list.

The Maple Leafs opened as the third choice in FanDuel’s Marner next team odds novelty market back in May.

Three weeks later, Toronto is the eighth choice at +2100.

That’s the longest number FanDuel has posted for the Maple Leafs in the Marner next team odds market.

It also represents just a 4.5 per cent implied probability that Marner stays in Toronto.

With Marner’s potential pending exit, the Maple Leafs will have some salary cap flexibility to solidify a roster that went seven games versus Florida despite missing its No. 1 goaltender Anthony Stolarz for the final six games.

What changes will Toronto GM Brad Treliving make to put his club in a better position to compete with the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions?

It might very well start with signing a former Panther.

Florida and Toronto were the top choices in FanDuel’s Bennett next team market at -125 and +340, respectively.

The Vegas Golden Knights were the only other team at shorter than +1500 odds.

In case you missed it, the Golden Knights have emerged as the favourite in the Marner next team market at +195.

Vegas opened as the fourth choice at +650 and was +230 in the Marner next team market at the start of the week before their odds were cut again over the past 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs opened as the favourite in the Marchand next team market at +430.

While their odds were cut to +380 in the past 24 hours, Toronto is now the second choice in the Marchand next team market.

The Panthers, which opened at +1900, have emerged as the favourite with a significant cut to +270 after GM Bill Zito told James Duthie and the TSN Hockey panel that he’s confident he can bring back Marchand, Bennett, and Ekblad.

As it stands this morning, Florida and Toronto are the top choices to sign Marchand at +270 and +380, respectively.

No other team is shorter than +1900 in FanDuel’s Marchand next team market.

Will the Panthers manage to bring back all three of Bennett, Marchand, and Ekblad?

Or will the Maple Leafs manage to steal away one of those key pieces from the Cats Stanley Cup run?

And what’s next for Marner and Tavares?

The fact that five of the top 11 players in TSN’s Free Agent Rankings are pending UFAs is fascinating.

It’s even more remarkable when you consider Florida, Toronto, and the Tampa Bay Lightning all among the top 11 choices to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel.

With the top three teams in the Atlantic Division on a potential collision course to meet again in next year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, the next two weeks will be crucial.

TSN Free Agent Frenzy 2026 will be must-watch TV.