It’s raining defensemen for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Fresh off the heels of signing recent draft pick Mac Hollowell, the Toronto Maple Leafs have signed yet another defenseman, this one from the US College ranks, Joseph Duszak.
Duszak, an unrestricted free-agent, is, what else(?), a 5′ 10″ right-handed defenseman. He is 21 years-old, undrafted, and from New York.
Duszak, according to Sportsnet.ca, has been signed to a 2 year entry-level contract and is the current NCAA leading scorer among defensemen.
Not too shabby.
Joseph Duszak
Duszak joins a growing stable of young Leafs defenseman that is seemingly getting better by the day. The Toronto Maple Leafs current crop of defensive prospects also includes the recent signed Hollowell, Andreas Borgman, Calle Rosen, Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin.
Though it might lack a top-end blue-chip superstar like a Rasmus Dahlin, the Leafs young core of Blue Liners is impressive never-the-less. Other than Hollowell who may very well make it, the other five are almost sure things to at least skate a regular shift in the NHL.
And let’s not forget Morgan Rielly just turned 25, Travis Dermott is just 22 and Igor Ozhiganov has had a fairly successful rookie season.
As the Leafs look to lock in their core players for the next 5-10 years, having a stable of up-and-coming blueliners who can play in the league and play for next to no cap-hit is going to be a necessity.
If the Leafs are to properly work their plan of paying their elite players and cycling through an ever changing cast of auxiliary players, then they are going to need to hit on a large percentage of these players.
It might seem like having six nearly NHL ready players is excessive, but don’t forget, the Leafs will have to make tough decisions in the future on any players who do work out. For example, someone on this list is probably going to have to replace Jake Gardiner next September.
Along with Duszak, the Leafs have recently signed Hollowell, Moore, Borgman, Rosen and Sparks to cheap, short-term contract extensions.
As exciting as the Leafs currently are, it’s also pretty crazy to think where they can get to if they actually do re-sign all their big-ticket players and get break out seasons from a few of these guys.
With all the hype that comes along with signing the big ticket NCAA guys every year, it’s impossible to know how good they really are. I’ve never seen Duszak play, so who knows how good he’ll be, but at the very least, it’s like adding another draft pick to the team.