Toronto Maple Leafs Roundtable: Free Agent Forwards
The Toronto Maple Leafs will enter July 1st with roughly $25 million in cap space.
What should they do with it?
If such a thought has crossed your mind, you’re in luck! For this week’s roundtable, the EIL Staff put their heads together to answer the question everyone’s thinking.
Which (non-Tavares) free agent forward should the Leafs pursue in free agency?
With such a staggering amount of free money and more than a couple organizational needs, the Leafs could very well be one of the busier teams on Canada Day.
In case you’re wondering, yes. I am quite aware of how desperately they need a defenceman. We’ll be covering the blueline next week.
So, let’s see what the brilliant minds at EIL had to say.
Josh Tessler
Aside from John Tavares, I hope that the Toronto Maple Leafs target Thomas Vanek this off-season.
With James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak likely not returning to the Leafs, Kyle Dubas will need to fill some a few gaps on the power-play and grab a solid 5v5 goal scorer. Vanek would do a decent job filling in the gap, and at this point in his career, he’d be a cheaper option.
Last season, he totalled 24 goals and 32 assists in 80 games split between the Vancouver Canucks and the Columbus Blue Jackets. And in Vancouver, a decent number of his points came on the power-play. If Vanek could do damage on the man advantage in a rocky offensive lineup with Canucks, just imagine what he could accomplish in Toronto.
Vanek has bounced around the league in recent years, becoming somewhat of a journeyman. He seems to have taken on the role of a hired gun, an offensive specialist brought in at the trade deadline by a contending team. The Leafs will hope to contend next season and could sign him in July without trading away any assets.
The good news is Vanek likely won’t command much and could very well take a discount to sign with the Leafs. To date, Vanek has yet to bring home a Stanley Cup. He’ll likely make more than last season’s salary of 2 million due to his great offensive season last year.
But, if he truly wants to win in the playoffs, he’ll likely be opened to taking a pay cut.
Carson Trask
With the Toronto Maple Leafs set to most likely lose two of their centres, depth is an issue. Well, Riley Nash can help with that.
Playing in a checking role with Boston, Nash posted 15 goals and 41 points. He consistently showed the ability to play throughout the lineup when needed. Nash has the skill to fill in on the top two lines, were the Leafs to run into injury issues.
Frederik Gauthier hasn’t shown enough to warrant being a full-time NHL player. And, it is unknown how Babcock feels about Miro Altonen. This makes centre a priority.
Leafs management shouldn’t attempt to sign any free agent wingers due to the depth they have at that position already. Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson and possibly Carl Grundstrom should be given every opportunity to take those open spots. Cost effective options are the way for the Leafs to go moving forward.
This is why Nash should be a target. He won’t cost an absurd amount of money. Plus, he could end up being one of those bargain signings that, if he plays up to his capabilities, could make people wonder how the team got him at that price.
Obviously, John Tavares is the free agent every NHL team is going to be trying to get. The Leafs are no different. Although, with the price expected to be outrageous, they need to draw the line somewhere.
Top 3 centres of Auston Mathews, Tavares and Nazem Kadri would make the Leafs tough to beat. But, I still think the Islanders find a way to keep him. If I am correct, Nash is a name that fans might not get overly excited about.
But, he would really help this team.
Christopher Vassos
Nail Yakupov.
Think about it. Not his terrible time in Edmonton, but the potential. Nail Yakupov was a former first overall pick in 2012 who wasn’t able to crack 35 points in the NHL. He went first overall above players like Alex Galchenyuk, Filip Forsberg. Six years later, he’s currently ninth in scoring from that draft.
While playing in Sarnia, he put up 101 and 69 points in 65 and 42 games respectively. That was above 1.5 PPG over two seasons. Yakupov was the undisputed number one pick by numerous scouting websites, which means he has the potential.
The problem was his former teams.
The 2012-2016 Edmonton Oilers are a team that went 135-193-25-23 over that stretch. They had a 0.415 points percentage as a team. Not to mention that he had six different coaches over those four years. That would be difficult for even the greatest players to overcome.
If the Maple Leafs were to bring Yakupov in, that would create the coaching stability that he needs to perform. Not to mention, our sports science team will (hopefully) help prevent him from getting injured.
Last season, the Colorado Avalanche signed Yakupov to a one year, $875,000 contract. If the Leafs could bring him in for near that, it would benefit both parties. The Leafs get some help on the right wing with Leo Komarov leaving and Yakupov gets to play in a large hockey market. One where, if he can shine, he will rejuvenate his career. If the Maple Leafs can sign him to $1,025,000 (or the league minimum + $375,000) or less, we can comfortably bury him in the AHL. In fact, that might be where he’s a bit more suited to play.
Unfortunately, Yakupov hasn’t turned 25 and will not before the June 30th deadline. Therefore, the CBA still classifies him as a Restricted Free Agent. However, if the Maple Leafs were to put in an Offer Sheet for anything under $1,295,571, they would not have to give up any draft picks for compensation. Anything above that up to $1,962,986 would require a third round pick.
To me, it looks like a low-risk signing that could have good value in the long run.
James Tanner
In looking over the list of Unrestricted Free Agents to answer this question, I realized that the Leafs shouldn’t even bother.
The list of UFAs is unappealing. Sure, they could add a 37-year-old Joel Ward to replace the defence they lose in Komarov, but he’s 37. And, he might just be good defensively by reputation at this point.
Additionally, the Leafs could look at Joe Thornton. But, the cost, age and health concerns are a bit much. He’d be an exciting pick up in much the same way Marleau was. Although, at 38, it’s risky.
The Leafs can replace Nylander and JVR with Johnsson/Kapanen and have Nylander play centre, meaning they’d only really need fourth liners. Given this option, Thornton just seems like a bad use of cap space.
The player I’d target if I was the Leafs is Michael Grabner. He’s only 30 and still has mad wheels. His speed makes him a good penalty killer and he always scores a ton at 5v5. He’d be ideal for depth and he can patrol the fourth line.
Especially if the Leafs want to go with the all-skill approach they deployed in the playoffs.
Next: Kyle Dubas and Hidden Talent
Thanks for reading!