Toronto Maple Leafs: Every Pending UFA in the Metropolitan Division
The Toronto Maple Leafs season is in flux.
Despite the uncertainty, we break down every NHL team’s pending UFAs starting with the Metropolitan Division. (Including the Toronto Maple Leafs).
Players may not know how the remainder of this season or the postseason is going to play out.
Contracts remain in place until a decision from NHL brass is made about the future of the 2019-2020 season. That means the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to wait if they have eyes on a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA).
In our four-part series, we break down a comprehensive list of each team’s pending UFAs. We begin with the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference.
Carolina Hurricanes
Sami Vatanen
The Carolina Hurricanes have four players about to hit the open market. One of them was rumoured to be a target by the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the trade deadline, Sami Vatanen.
Vatanen, now 28 years old, is a confident puck handler who is excellent at breakouts. He’s an offensive defenseman and a powerplay specialist. After the Hurricanes traded for Vatanen on trade deadline day, they will likely try to retain him to help their blueline going forward.
Trevor van Riemsdyk
A former Leafs winger’s brother is about to finish his contract. Trevor van Riemsdyk is about to finish his two-year deal worth $2.3 million per season. His future is unsure since this hasn’t been his best season.
The defenseman played on the top pairing but it was not the right place for him. It would have been best to play van Riemsdyk on a bottom pairing and let him thrive there. As a stay-at-home defenseman, he’s not going to create much offense or even add much physicality.
Joel Edmundson
When it comes to laying his body on opponents Joel Edmundson is a UFA defenseman that teams might be interested in signing. This season he threw 118 hits in 68 games. Not known for his offense, he is coming off a career-high in assists with 13. He also had a career-high in points with 20 and he tied his career-high in goals with seven.
Edmundson has put himself in a good position going into free agency to get himself a raise on his current $3.1 million salary. There’s no guarantee of course, especially since Edmundson has been inconsistent this season.
Justin Williams
Justin Williams, the Canes’ right-winger, is on an expiring contract. He is a stalwart in the NHL, turning 39 years old in October. Williams has played 19 years in the league including eight of them in Carolina. He still has value on the ice but his best quality is as a dressing room leader and veteran.
Most likely, Williams will either be returning to the Hurricanes or retiring. At this point in his career, he may be satisfied to hang them up with a total of 797 points.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets are in an interesting position. They don’t have a single UFA on their active roster. They do have expiring contracts but all of them are restricted. In fact, they have ten RFAs to work out.
Both of the Jackets’ goaltenders are RFAs this offseason. Jarmo Kekäläinen, the team’s general manager, will need to determine what happens with each of the 25-year-old stoppers, Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins.
One of Columbus’s RFAs is also a player that the Toronto Maple Leafs were supposedly interested in ahead of the trade deadline. That player is right-winger Josh Anderson. There is a chance that his time with the Jackets may have come to an end and the team looks to move him.
Anderson is an unknown entity at this point since he suffered a shoulder injury when he fought Mark Borowiecki of the Ottawa Senators. He hasn’t played a game since. Unfortunately, the injury has kept him out of action since December.
Doyle Somerby and Dillon Simpson
The only UFAs that Kekäläinen will need to think about are a pair of non-roster defensemen Doyle Somerby and Dillon Simpson. Both players came through the NCAA and neither was drafted by Columbus.
Somerby was a fifth-round pick in 2012, going 125th overall to the New York Islanders. After four years with Boston University, he has played three seasons with the Cleveland Monsters in the AHL.
Simpson was drafted in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He went 92nd overall to the Edmonton Oilers.
Simpson played four years at the University of North Dakota and then found some success as an offensive defenseman in the AHL. He even managed to get into three games for the Oilers. In those games, he averaged 10:53 of ice time, took a minor penalty and had two shots on goal.
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are in the middle of a rebuild with a very young roster. Apart from P.K. Subban ($9 million) and Travis Zajac ($5.75 million), they don’t have anyone on their roster making more than $5 million annually.
For the Devils, it means that every player on the roster who is up for free agency this offseason, both restricted and nonrestricted, is on a very affordable deal. In fact, the only one of them getting paid more a million dollars this season is RFA Mirco Mueller.
As for UFAs, the Devils will have three of them. They are right-wing and center Kevin Rooney, left defenseman Fredrik Claesson, and right defenseman Dakota Mermis. Collectively, this sum of this group’s yearly salary is $2.1 million.
(All cap info capfriendly.com; all stats naturalstattrick.com or hockeydb.com).
Kevin Rooney
Rooney is likely the only one of the three UFAs who might be looking at a raise. He managed to play in 49 games this season for the Devils after finally making a full time jump to the NHL. Previously, he had been splitting time between the majors and minors.
Rooney averaged 11:44 minutes of playing time per game at the bottom of New Jersey’s lineup. By March he was receiving more shifts and a larger workload which suggests that he had earned the trust of his coach, Alain Nasreddine. Rooney recorded four goals in five assists over his campaign.
Fredrik Claesson and Dakota Mermis
Defensemen Claesson and Mermin didn’t see nearly as much ice time with the Devils. Claesson played in five games where he had a goal and an assist. Mermis played ten games with New Jersey and 53 for the Binghamton Devils.
In the NHL he had a goal and three assists and in the AHL he had three goals and 16 assists.
New York Islanders
Thomas Greiss
The New York Islanders have five pending UFAs on their roster. One of which is their backup goalie, Thomas Greiss. He was the William M. Jennings Trophy co-winner in 2019 for being on the team that allowed the fewest goals against.
Now having completed five seasons with the Islanders, Greiss may need to begin looking for a new home. At age 34 he is coming off a 16-9-4 season where he posted a save percentage of 0.913 and a goals-against-average of 2.74.
Matt Martin
On July 1, 2016, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed UFA Matt Martin to a four year $10 million contract. In 2018 they flipped him to the Islanders for Eamon McAdam. Now, the former Leaf is about to become a free agent once again.
Martin joined the Toronto Maple Leafs with the reputation for throwing big body checks on mass. This season with the Islanders he was still flying around the ice being physical. In 55 games he threw 242 hits. He also managed to add five goals and three assists.
Derick Brassard
Martin’s fourth-line center also showed physicality in his game this season. Derick Brassard added more grit to his game to fit in nicely with his linemates Martin and Cal Clutterbuck. With Brassard being the most talented of the trio and his contract expiring in the offseason, his services should be in demand.
Tom Kühnhackl
Tom Kühnhackl is the only other UFA forward with New York. He played four games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and 28 games for the Islanders. Without a consistent role in the NHL and only managing to post six points in the NHL this season, Kühnhackl will likely be searching out a two-way contract in the offseason.
Andy Greene
The only defenseman to hit the open market with the Islanders is 37-year-old Andy Greene. He was moved to New York from the Devils ahead of the trade deadline in exchange for a second-round pick and David Quenneville.
Between both clubs, Greene played a total of 63 games and scored two goals while adding 12 helpers.
He averaged 20:07 minutes of ice time in New Jersey and 16:32 minutes in his ten games with the Islanders. It’s unclear whether GM Lou Lamoriello plans to try and re-sign the veteran since head coach Barry Trotz wasn’t utilizing the player to the same extent as when he was a Devil.
New York Rangers
The other team from New York also has UFAs on their roster. New York Rangers actually have three players who can walk away from the team. One of whom was included in one of the top five trades of decade.
Greg McKegg
Former Toronto Maple Leafs center Greg McKegg spent the season in the middle of the Rangers fourth line. Since leaving Toronto, McKegg has played for four different AHL teams and five NHL teams. He has found a way to maintain value and keep being recalled to the majors.
With the Rangers, McKegg played 53 contests and picked up nine points on five goals and four assists.
He did that while playing an average of just 9:34 minutes of ice time. Being a hard worker on the ice and never giving up on a play has allowed McKegg to have a shot at returning to the NHL next season.
Jesper Fast
A larger impact player with the Rangers will also be hitting the market. That’s their assistant captain, Jesper Fast.
His usage in New York has been curious. Fast’s best attribute is his defensive abilities. A player like him would be best served to play on a grinder line of the bottom six. Instead, Fast spent more of the season with linemates Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome.
This miscast may be corrected on Fast’s next contract. He clearly serves a great deal of value but because of his position in the lineup, he wasn’t helping the Rangers in the way he should. At 28 years old, he would look good on the Leafs penalty kill and third line.
Micheal Haley
The last UFA with the Rangers is Micheal Haley. His career is in jeopardy after having bilateral muscle core surgery.
The team never announced a timeline for his return. He played in 22 games this season and picked up a single point off a goal he scored. Going into the offseason on the IR, hopefully Haley recovers in time to find himself a new deal.
Philadelphia Flyers
Derek Grant and Tyler Pitlick
The Philadelphia Flyers have UFAs to address at every position. Three of those players are forwards and a couple of them even play on the same line. Derek Grant and Tyler Pitlick played very well together this season on the third line.
Both players surpassed 20 points for the campaign. Grant had a sum of 25 points from 15 goals and 10 assists playing in 56 games. Pitlick recorded 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists in 63 games. Theirs was a reliable line for coach Alain Vigneault. It’ll be interesting to see whether GM Chuck Fletcher tries to bring both men back to continue that success.
Nate Thompson
The center for the fourth line is also looking at free agency. Nate Thompson is set to become a UFA. He has played 13 years in the NHL for eight different franchises.
His latest stop in Philadelphia only lasted seven games after being traded there by the Montreal Canadiens on trade deadline day. In exchange, the Habs received a fifth-round pick.
Right before it was announced that the novel coronavirus has shut down the NHL, Thompson suffered a knee sprain which would have kept him out of action for two weeks. He should be long recovered by the time free agency opens up and he begins shopping for a new team.
Brian Elliot
The Flyers goalie Brian Elliot turns 35 on April 9. He has put himself in a good position to re-up on his $2 million annual salary. Elliot had a record of 24-13-3 with a save percentage of 0.914 and a goals-against-average of 2.42.
Justin Braun
Defenseman Justin Braun is coming off a five-year $19 million contract given to him by the San Jose Sharks.
The Flyers have one of the better bluelines in the NHL which allows them to let Braun walk away at season’s end. His takeaways to giveaways ratio might have caused some frustration in Philadelphia.
On the season he had 10 takeaways but gave up the puck 31 times in 62 games. On the surface, this doesn’t appear to look good but considering that he only had an average of a takeaway every other game, Braun’s reputation of a solid defender in his own end still stands up.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins appeared to have figured out their woes and were playing good hockey when the NHL shutdown occurred. They had also just brought a beloved player and former Toronto Maple Leafs player into the fold.
Patrick Marleau
Patrick Marleau returned to his second home and re-signed to a league minimum contract this season with the Sharks.
Ahead of the trade deadline, their GM, Doug Wilson, did Marleau a favor and moved him to a contender. Marleau was hoping to capture his first Stanley Cup with the Pens.
Marleau, who is now 40 years old, will have a giant decision ahead of him. Some believe that he is ready to hang up his skates.
If that’s not the case, perhaps he’ll want to once again join the Toronto Maple Leafs to play with his buddies Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. [Editor’s Note: Hard Pass].
Conor Sheary
The American winger who spent his first three seasons with the Penguins found himself being moved back there on trade deadline day. Conor Sheary was in his second season with the Buffalo Sabres when they shipped him back to Pittsburgh.
It was a good move for Sheary who was inserted onto the Pens top line to play with one of the best in the game, Sidney Crosby.
At age 27, Sheary may try to once again find a hockey path outside of Pennsylvania but it appears that he’s at his best with the Pens.
Sheary will be coming off a $9 million three-year contract that paid him $3 million annually. He will likely be trying to secure a similar contract with as much term as possible this offseason.
Justin Schultz
Justin Schultz is also coming off a three-year deal. It paid him $16.5 million with an AAV of $5.5 million. It was a good signing for both the Penguins and Schultz who were a great match.
Schultz, who is an offensive defenseman shined brightest on the powerplay. During five-on-five play he was often relegated to the third pairing. Averaging 19:53 minutes of ice time per game, he gave Pittsburgh exactly what they expected from him.
Unfortunately, some of his defensive deficiencies began to be exposed this season and was used as a turnstile more than once. Schultz’s next contract is likely to drop in value but he should still earn significant money on his next deal.
Next. Top 10 Mustaches in Maple Leafs History. dark
Check back here tomorrow for part two of this series where we will provide the breakdown of every UFA in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division.