Toronto Maple Leafs: Remaining Free Agent Options

The Toronto Maple Leafs still have some holes in their roster.

They signed Dominic Moore, Patrick Marleau and Ron Hainsey on free agent day, but the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t necessarily a better team than they were last year.  Their team defense and their blue line remain suspect.

The Leafs actually have more player than they need, and their contract count is fast approaching the 50 contract limit.  Trades are likely however, so I don’t think it’s a guarantee that they’re done with free-agency.

Here are some players who are still available who cold help:

Cody Franson

Until Franson signs elsewhere, I will continue to suggest the Toronto Maple Leafs bring him back. Franson can move the puck and can likely get your 30 points, but his main skill is preventing shots.

The Sabres were one of the worst defensive teams in hockey last year allowing 32.6 shots per game, good for 29th in the NHL.  When Franson was on the ice, however, they allowed 29.14 shots/60, a difference of over three shots per sixty minutes.  It might not seem like a lot, but it is.

The Leafs were the third worst defensive team last year and so could use a player (especially one who shoots right-handed like Franson) who is good at suppressing shots.

Daniel Winnik

Winnik is far superior to Moore, who the Leafs signed. He is one of the NHL’s best fourth line centres and his hero chart puts his shot-suppression at an eight out of ten.

Dominic Moore is nothing but a depth player and shouldn’t dress every night.  Winnik on the other hand is excellent defensively and can chip in offensively as well, putting up 1.6 pts/60 last season.

He probably wouldn’t entertain signing with the Leafs, again, out of fear they’d trade him, again, but it’d be worth a try.  Certainly the Leafs are week at the position of fourth line centre.

Jaromir Jagr

I readily admit this is a pipe dream, but Jagr remains effective.  He doesn’t age and it’s unbelievable he doesn’t have a contract right now.  Radulov just signed an insane contract with Dallas, and guess who had more 5v5 points? That’s right, Jagr.

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He put up 46 points last year, but he’s also great defensively.  I don’t know what he’d cost, or if you could get a discount due to lack of interest, but he’d definitely help the team.

Sure, you say the Leafs are deep at the wing, but if you did something crazy like package Connor Brown with JVR and a draft pick to get a really good defenseman, then you’d have room for Jagr.

Andre Markov

Just kidding, this is a terrible idea.  Markov is still good on offense, where the Leafs have more than enough fire-power.  On defense he is terrible and the Leafs do not need a shot-allowing one-dimensional player.

Conclusion

The Toronto Maple Leafs made some pretty bad decisions on free agency day.  When you see that they signed Marleau, Hainsey and Moore and that Jagr, Franson and Winnik are still unsigned, their moves are really hard to defend.

Next: Is Grundstrom the New Komarov ?

All three players are better than the ones the Leafs actually signed, and since no other team signed them, they’d probably be cheaper.

Stats from stats.hockey.analysis.com