The Toronto Maple Leafs are apparently not waiting for the Mitch Marner saga to conclude before getting a jump on their busy offseason.
After a number of reports suggested that their deals had already been agreed to in principle over draft weekend, both Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen officially signed contract extensions with the Maple Leafs earlier this afternoon to stay in the blue and white for the foreseeable future.
It appears as if today’s announcement is all that remained to make them official.
As if the pair didn’t draw enough on-ice comparisons already, their respective extensions are even remarkably similar, as well. In Johnsson’s case, his freshly-inked deal will account for $3.4 million in AAV for four years, while Kapanen managed to secure three years of term for himself at a reported annual cap hit of $3.2 million.
Kapanen has signed a three-year extension ($3.2 million average annual value) while Johnsson has signed a four-year extension that carries an average annual value of $3.4 million. #LeafsForever https://t.co/JEmVxNmYQP
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) June 28, 2019
On the surface, this projects as a steal. If both players’ trajectories continue unabated at their current pace – which appears likely given the talent surrounding them, then Kapanen and Johnsson have the potential to look quite cost-effective as the cap rises over the next few years.
However, while the Maple Leafs may have retained two of their most important young forwards to some comparatively cheap price tags, there is clearly still much work to be done.
According to CapFriendly, the Kapanen and Johnsson extensions now leave Toronto with precisely $6,940,301 in available cap space, wiggle room with which they’ll need to acquire the multiple right-shooting defenders their blueline lacks, accommodate Mitch Marner‘s impending albatross, and replace the likely-to-depart Tyler Ennis at the bottom of the forward corps.
This roster is far from solidified at the moment. In fact, today’s news almost certainly guarantees that the Maple Leafs will be busier than ever when free agency opens on July 1st.
Nevertheless, finding a willing taker for Patrick Marleau‘s $6.25 million anchor of a contract via trade this past Saturday and then summarily using that wiggle room to lock down both Kapanen and Johnsson (their combined cap hits total out to $6.6 million) is a shrewd move by Kyle Dubas. Thanks to his willingness to surrender a first-round pick – a price which other GMs may have initially baulked at – Dubas now ensures that the Maple Leafs have two top-six wingers for the price of one on the fourth line.
What comes next remains to be seen.
Nikita Zaitsev and Connor Brown appear to be the consensus candidates to find new homes over the summer, with either player’s salaries, given the confines of Toronto’s cap situation, being luxuries the Leafs cannot afford. There should be a market for a decent depth forward and a top-four (on Toronto, at least) RHD. While Dubas was once insistent that the Maple Leafs’ summer hinged first on Marner’s eventual contract, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. This team, mercifully, is no longer allowing one player to withhold them from making strides to actively improve the roster.
Today’s news confirms that. With Kapanen and Johnsson entrenched into the core, the Maple Leafs are in full attack-mode, which is exactly where they should be.
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