Top 4 Toronto Maple Leafs Players Signed to a Bargain
The Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot to be thankful in this festive time of year, especially with these players signed for cheap and providing value.
With the holiday season coming towards its conclusion, the time of shopping for good deals is beginning to take shape. The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have to worry about looking for such deals because they already made their purchases and those buy-lows are paying dividends.
When it comes to building a competitive team that can stay in the hunt for a championship for years, lots of money will be tied up in big-name players leading the way.
Toronto certainly has that as nearly half of their cap space is invested in their big-4 forwards.
Because of this, it is up to the general manager to fill the gaps with quality players who don’t take up too much space against the salary cap.
Since being hired by the Leafs in 2014, Kyle Dubas has demonstrated he can effectively do just that and find hidden gems.
There are countless examples of this throughout the Leafs organization, but the following four players stand out the most based on their rise and success with the big club so far. In no particular order, here are the best four Toronto Maple Leafs players signed to a bargain.
Justin Holl (1-year, $650 K)
It’s hard to believe that last season, Holl was in the press box for all but 11 games as he waited for his chance to shine.
A year later, he has been free of his shackles and is proving his value is immeasurable.
In 37 games, he has posted 1 goal, 10 assists, and 11 points, while also posting a 52.90 CF%, a50.73 xGF%, and a 53.06 SCF% at even strength. (all stats naturalstattrick.com).
His ice time has steadily increased throughout the season, especially in the month of December where he is averaging 19:29, including a career-high 26:10 against the Edmonton Oilers.
Since the Toronto Maple Leafs promoted Sheldon Keefe, Holl has also seen his role quickly evolve from the third-pairing to a shutdown role alongside Jake Muzzin.
As a result, he has been tasked to neutralize star players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Sebastian Aho, and Elias Pettersson with successful results.
The icing on the cake is Holl is doing all of this while signed to a deal that is below the league minimum. It’s safe to say the Toronto Maple Leafs have themselves a diamond in the rough in the 27-year-old defender.
Pierre Engvall (1-year, $925K)
Prior to the season, it would be understandable to assume that Engvall had a slim chance of cracking the Toronto Maple Leafs roster out of training camp.
Barely 20 games into his NHL career, Toronto would now be foolish to send him back down to the Marlies.
In 17 games, he has posted 3 goals (one of which was shorthanded), 4 assists, and 7 points. At even strength, he has also registered a 52.43 CF%, a 51.61 FF%, a 56.29 xGF%, and a 56.35 SCF%.
In the time since his recalling, Engvall quickly gained a role on the penalty kill and impressive out of the gate.
He has been a big part of the Leafs improvement on the PK since Keefe’s arrival. Engvall has also showcased his elusive speed and incredible length at both ends of the ice.
With injuries continuing to pile on, Engvall’s role is only going to further increase from here.
Given that he’s already spent time playing with guys like John Tavares, it’s safe to say he more than ready to take on the increased responsibility.
Jason Spezza (1-year, $700 K)
Remember when Mike Babcock decided to scratch Spezza on opening night? With each passing day, it’s becoming more apparent that the former Leafs bench boss didn’t really know what he had in the former Ottawa Senators star.
Signed at a league minimum, he has recorded 5 goals, 10 assists, and 5 power-play points in 27 games played. He has also posted a 50.21 CF%, a 53.70 xGF%, 51.15 SCF%, and a 52.87 HDCF% at even strength.
Despite being aged 36, Spezza has still got it as his point production has been impressive while rotating in and out of the lineup.
He has even gotten significant time on the man advantage and while he hasn’t been perfect, he has provided some value for the second unit.
At the time of writing this, he is currently on pace for roughly 16 goals, 30 assists, and 46 points.
It’s hard to say if he can maintain that pace, but it is still impressive to see Spezza seeing a resurgence in his career from an offensive standpoint.
Ilya Mikheyev (1-year, $925K)
It is unfortunate that Mikheyev is going to miss significant time after his wrist was cut by Jesper Bratt in Friday’s game against the New Jersey Devils.
Prior to the injury, he has been a revelation for the Leafs in more ways than one.
He was 8th on the team in scoring with 23 points, along with 8 goals and 15 assists. His numbers at even strength are also impressive, recording a 53.09 CF%, a 52.43 FF%, a 55.33 xGF%, and a 52.71 SCF%.
Early on, Mikheyev was given penalty-killing duties and was able to use his reach and speed to be a dangerous player shorthanded.
His confidence in past games was noticeably growing and moved up and down the lineup with success each step of the way.
(All stats unless otherwise noted are from Hockey-Reference.com and Natural Stat Trick as of December 28th.
All salary numbers are from Cap Friendly.)
While his absence for the next three months is going to sting for the Toronto Maple Leafs, there’s no doubt that Mikheyev has proven he is a useful asset in all situations and will surely get a large pay increase this summer.
Next. Leafs All-Decade Team. dark
Here’s hoping he can make a speedy recovering and return to the lineup before the end of the regular season.
Honourable Mentions: Trevor Moore (2-years, $775 K), Dmytro Timashov (1-year, $694,444)