Toronto Maple Leafs: Every Pending UFA in the Western Pacific Division
By Jeff Borsuk
No one yet knows whether the Toronto Maple Leafs season is over but we can look ahead to the offseason. Here are all the Western Pacific Division UFAs.
July 1 is not only Canada’s birthday but traditionally it also rings in the start of free agency in the National Hockey League.
While it’s unclear what will happen this year or the timing around any events, we can layout the certainties. Those being the new crop of Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) on which teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs can bid.
In this four-part series, you can already see the comprehensive list of each team’s pending UFAs. With the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division and Metropolitan Division already available to read, we dive into a look at the Pacific Division.
Anaheim Ducks
Patrick Eaves
There are four rostered players with the Anaheim Ducks who have expiring contracts. Patrick Eaves is the only forward in the group and he is currently on the injured reserve.
It was expected that Eaves would be out for the season after undergoing hip surgery and suffering through illness. He didn’t play at all this season and has only played nine games since 2017. Eaves will be turning 36 on May 1 and it’s realistic to believe that he will not be able to return to the NHL.
Michael Del Zotto
On Defense, the Ducks have two UFAs, Michael Del Zotto and Matt Irwin. Del Zotto is an interesting player. At this point in his career, he could be a bottom pairing defenseman if the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired him. What may make him attractive to Toronto is his history with John Tavares.
Tavares and Del Zotto played together in the OHL for two different teams. In fact, they were traded from the Oshawa Generals to the London Knights together in 2009. It was a giant deal at the time that included six players and six draft picks.
This season, at age 29, Del Zotto has played an average of 18:43 minutes of ice time. His puck possession in those minutes wasn’t great. Playing in all situations, he had a Corsi rating of 46.7. That’s -3.8 relative to his team.
Matt Irwin
Irwin, who is three years older than Del Zotto had even worse metrics this season without being given the same responsibility.
He had an average of 14:28 minutes on ice with a Corsi rating of 37.7 in all situations, which was -11.5 relative to his team.
The Ducks picked up Irwin and Nashville’s 2022 sixth-round draft pick at the trade deadline. In order to get them, the Ducks had to give up former Maple Leafs defenseman Korbinian Holzer.
Ryan Miller
The last player on Anaheim’s roster to hit the open market ahead of next season is Ryan Miller. The goaltender will make a decent backup for a team in need next year. This season he had a save percentage of 0.907 and a goals-against-average of 3.10.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs hadn’t made the highly graded trade for Jack Campbell they might have been interested in making Miller an offer. As it stands now, the Leafs shouldn’t be looking at the Ducks to make gains on their own roster.