Maple Leafs Rejected By $50 Million Defenseman in Free Agency

The Toronto Maple Leafs tried to sign many elite-level free agents at the start of July but we keep hearing them publically reveal they rejected the Canadian franchise.

The latest player to join that group is defenseman Brandon Montour, who won the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in 2024 and then signed with the lowly Seattle Kraken in free agency.

Montour appeared on TSN’s OverDrive on July 18 and he confirmed that the Leafs were interested in signing him and that he and his agent held conversations with the franchise but ultimately rejected them.

“There were conversations [with the Maple Leafs],” Montour said. “When I looked at the roster and myself, I thought I could definitely help and it was intriguing. But there’s a lot that goes into [free agency] with my family and what they need as well as business decisions.”

Montour chose to sign a seven-year, $49.98 million contract with the Kraken on July 1 on the first day of free agency.

Montour has ties to Ontario, Canada, as he’s a native of Brantford. That said, he decided to sign with Seattle because of the appeal of the franchise to him. According to the blueliner, winning the first Cup in Kraken’s history is what he’d love the most, similar to what he did by bringing the first championship to Florida.

“Looking back, the big thing that was really cool with winning in Florida was that it was their very first championship and experiencing that together,” said Montour. “Thinking about Seattle and to have the chance to do that there excites me.”

Montour’s Journey From Florida to Seattle

Montour’s hefty $50 million contract with Seattle was within Toronto’s reach but that was only because of his breakout season with the Panthers leading the franchise to hoist the Cup.

The defenseman completed the 2023-24 season scoring 8 goals and assisting 25 for 33 total points in 66 regular-season games. Montour then added 3 goals and 8 assists during the postseason, racking up 11 points in the playoffs.

The Kraken sat at the other end of the spectrum compared to the Panthers’ success in 2024. Seattle missed the playoffs but showed enough potential to convince Montour to sign a long-term deal with the franchise.

Founded ahead of the 2021-22 season, the Kraken clinched a postseason berth for the first time in 2023 and advanced to the second round before falling 4-3 in seven games to the Dallas Stars.

The Anaheim Ducks drafted Montour with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2014 NHL draft. Since making his debut in the 2016-17 season, Montour has played for the Ducks, the Buffalo Sabres, and the Panthers.

Montour has skated in 510 regular-season games scoring 66 goals and assisting 186 for 252 total points.

Maple Leafs Rejected Multiple Times in Free Agency

The Toronto Maple Leafs have endured several rejections during the early days of free agency when the best players to hit the market were still available.

Besides Montour, they targeted defenseman Matt Roy but the former Los Angeles Kings blueliner decided instead to sign a four-year, $14 million deal with the Washington Capitals. Chris Johnston reported Toronto’s interest in Roy appearing on the Steve Dangle Podcast on July 8.

“I think Matt Roy was a little bit of the one that got away. They were interested in Brady Skjei but that was pretty clear early on that, that wasn’t going to be it. They called on Pesce, but I didn’t get a sense that was ever (close). Roy was a big target,” Johnston said on the SDPN.

Additionally, the Leafs aimed to land forward Jeff Skinner after the Sabres bought his contract out, but Skinner instead signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Edmonton Oilers.

Chris Johnston also provided insight into Skinner’s decision, saying that Toronto no longer appeals to free agents with the franchise not considered a winning organization across the league.

“He’s going there [Edmonton] clearly to win. I mean, he could have signed for one year and $3 million in about ten spots,” Johnston said on the July 2 episode of The Chris Johnston Show. “I know the Leafs were among the teams that had talked to him and were trying to pitch him in the idea, ‘Hey, you can play alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on our team!’”

According to Johnston, Skinner’s decision to join the Oilers instead of Toronto underscored his desire to play alongside superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl instead of the likes of Matthews and Marner–the latter possibly on the move soon.