Fansided

The Toronto Maple Leafs Should Sign Patrick Sharp

By Maaz Rajah |
Jan 4, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Patrick Sharp (10) in action during the game against the Montreal Canadiens at the American Airlines Center. The Canadiens defeat the Stars 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 4, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Patrick Sharp (10) in action during the game against the Montreal Canadiens at the American Airlines Center. The Canadiens defeat the Stars 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs proved last season that they are a good team, but there is always room for improvement.

The Toronto Maple Leafs off-season priority is obvious: get a top-four right shot defenseman. But, that doesn’t necessarily mean they shouldn’t explore options to make their forward core better.

The Leafs have one of the best top 6 forward cores in the entire NHL. Yet, they can still improve on the left side.

After James van Riemsdyk, the Leafs have no one on the left side that is considered a scoring threat. Zach Hyman is an animal, but is unable to score 5 on 5. Leo Komarov is an elite pest and defensive winger. Matt Martin plays on the 4th line and produces little to no offense.

They could look internally to solve their problem, but the Leafs depth chart for left wingers is pretty barren as well.

Free agency is the most logical and cost effective route for the Leafs to take.

Enter Patrick Sharp.

Why Patrick Sharp?

For the past decade, Patrick Sharp has been one of the premier left wingers in the NHL.

Prior to the 2016-2017 season, Sharp scored 78 points, 43 points, and 55 points in the previous three years. Unfortunately, due to an injury plagued season, Sharp only put up 18 points last year for the Dallas Stars.

The 35 year old may not be the 70+ point winger he once was for the Blackhawks, but the stats show he’s still an effective NHL winger. If he plays a full season, scoring 40-50 points should be attainable for Sharp.

Where does he fit in for the Leafs?

Auston Matthews and William Nylander need a better left winger. While Hyman did an admirable job last season, he just isn’t capable of keeping up offensively with the two superstars.

Sharp may be near the end of his career, but he’s still got the skills and the smarts to play with the two youngsters.

Matthews and Nylander dominated the possession aspect of the game last season. Even at the age of 35, Sharp is a fancy stat darling in terms of possession. Among forwards who played 45 games, Sharp would have finished 1st in CF% rel with a score of 7.9 on the Leafs (Nylander would be the closest at 3.6). Those stats for Sharp aren’t a fluke either, his NHL career average is 8.4 (!).

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He’s a possession beast.

Slotting him beside Matthews and Nylander would instantly create one of the most dominating lines in hockey.

Sharp also has of experience playing on the powerplay and penalty kill. He’s a player Babcock can utilize in any situation and be comfortable doing so.

Coming off his worst season since his rookie year, he shouldn’t be demanding a lot of money or term. If the Leafs can sign Sharp for something around the three million range on a short term deal, they should definitely consider it.

stats: corsica.hockey

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