Toronto Maple Leafs: Hold Off On Spending Spree
By Josh Tessler
The Toronto Maple Leafs should look to hold off on major spending come July 1st.
Let me explain. What I mean is that the Toronto Maple Leafs should avoid signing UFAs to long contract in July. The reason why is that the free agent market isn’t great.
The free agency market is headlined by John Tavares of the New York Islanders, John Carlson of the Washington Capitals and James Neal of the Vegas Golden Knights. Sure, I’d be ecstatic if Kyle Dubas signed Tavares or Carlson, but he’d likely have to overpay.
I’d prefer never to overpay a player, but if the Toronto Maple Leafs were to overpay a player then I’d prefer it be next year. Come July 1, 2019, the Toronto Maple Leafs will likely have signed Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner to extensions to keep them in the GTA. At that point, Dubas will know exactly how much he can afford to spend.
In addition, next year’s free agency class is going to be worth the wait. Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators, Jordan Eberle of the Islanders, Matt Duchene of the Senators, Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks, Logan Couture of the Sharks, Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars and Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes will all be up for grabs. With the amount of talent in the 2019 class, it just doesn’t make sense to write a huge cheque for a UFA this year.
What The Leafs Should Do This Off-Season?
Instead, the Toronto Maple Leafs should look to make some trades and add players with upside. For example, Dubas could look to acquire someone like Andre Burakovsky of the Washington Capitals, Jacob Trouba of the Winnipeg Jets and/or Dougie Hamilton of the Calgary Flames. If Dubas were to acquire any of the players mentioned above, he wouldn’t damage his cap space for now or the future. Then in July of 2019, Dubas could then go out and sign an elite player to a huge deal.
Plus, Hamilton and Trouba would be much better options than some of the current Maple Leafs defensemen. Both, Hamilton and Trouba registered a higher CF% last season than Nikita Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey and Roman Polak. Hamilton and Trouba also had a better CF% than Carlson.
Additionally, the Maple Leafs only had two forwards with a CF% higher than 52%. If the Maple Leafs were to add Burakovsky, they’d be adding a strong two-way forward. Last season, he owned a 53.0 CF%.
If the Maple Leafs add a player with a ton of upside like Burakovsky, Hamilton and/or Trouba, they’d instantly become a Stanley Cup Contender for next season. Yes, you could argue that the Maple Leafs were a cup contender this past year, but I wouldn’t after seeing the tough beat down in Boston. The defense looked rather sloppy and the offense wasn’t skating back to the defensive zone. So by adding a solid two-way forward and a top defenseman, the Maple Leafs would look a lot better off.
Recap
At the end of the day, I’m not the one running the show. Dubas and Brendan Shanahan are responsible for hockey operations. It’ll be interesting to see how gentlemen approach this year’s free agency class. Editor in Leaf will keep you updated on the latest news and rumours surrounding the Maple Leafs’ off-season.
Next: Toronto Maple Leafs Top Ten Prospects
*Be on the lookout for Editor In Leafs contributor Lauren Kelly’s rebuttal and her case for the Maple Leafs spending this off-season rather than waiting for the following off-season.
research from Capfriendly.com, stats from hockey-reference.com