The Toronto Maple Leafs Top 5 Off-Season Priorities
The Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as the rest of the NHL, are currently without hockey since the season was put on pause last month.
At least we can take solace in the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in their final game before the break.
Currently, there hasn’t been a final decision made about whether or not the season will resume. If the season resumes as expected, then hockey fans everywhere will rejoice.
If the season is cancelled, they’ll be put in an unfortunate position. However one thing is certain whether the season resumes or not–there will be an offseason as usual.
This year, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a pretty important offseason ahead of them. I hope Kyle Dubas has been using this time to think hard, because this offseason consists of a ton of things to do. Let’s take a look at the 5 most important offseason priorities.
1. Lock up the RFAs
The word RFA might cause traumatic flashback for Toronto Maple Leafs fans, ushering in memories of the previous contract negotiations with William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson.
Some were easier than others, and some were rather lengthy processes.
Although this offseason may not present the Toronto Maple Leafs with as high profile RFA’s as years past, they still have to decide on whether they want to keep them.
Mainly, the RFAs the Leafs have to decide on are Ilya Mikheyev and Travis Dermott.
I think both players have been key pieces for the Leafs last season and will surely need to be extended.
Dermott has put up some of the best third pairing numbers in the NHL over the past couple year, and Mikheyev turned heads during the first half of the season, prior to his injury.
For other RFAs, like Denis Malgin and Frederik Gauthier, the decision isn’t as clear cut. However, once these players are locked up, it becomes easier to decide how to allocate remaining cap space.
2. Have a Strong Draft
One of the main events of every offseason is the annual NHL Entry Draft. Whether the season resumes or not, the NHL draft will surely still commence as usual.
This year, the Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have a first round pick (traded to Carolina). However, they do have a second and a fifth round pick, as well as multiple picks in the fourth, sixth and seventh rounds.
Kyle Dubas won’t be sweating though, as he was in this situation last draft, where the Toronto Maple Leafs first round pick was acquired by the Los Angeles Kings in the Jake Muzzin trade.
Dubas is hoping to hit a home run again, after using his second round pick last year to select Nick Robertson, who led the OHL this season in goals.
Drafting strong is always key to the future of a franchise, so making sure the Leafs capitalize on a strong draft class this year is definitely a top priority.
3. Resign Jason Spezza
I know, out of all the UFAs to resign, Jason Spezza may not seem like the main priority. But I assure you, he’d be the perfect player to resign and the Leafs need to get on that.
For one, he’s a veteran presence, which we know goes a long way on an impressionable young team (see Patrick Marleau, 2017-2019).
He’s also on a very cheap contract, which doesn’t look like it’ll increase that much. Additionally, he has stated that he wants to stay in Toronto and try to win a Cup. That’s something important to consider since he’s a hometown guy.
As long as the Leafs can resign Spezza to another one-year contract worth less than $1.5 million, I would take him on again.
He’s been a head-turner for the most part this season and I think the benefits of re-signing him outweigh the risks. Most of all, I think that experience is irreplaceable for a Stanley Cup contending team.
4. Dip into Free Agency
Let’s face it, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be losing a number of players to the open market this summer and that means they’ll have to be replaced.
Specifically, it looks like players like Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci are headed to free agency.
With the cap space saved by their exits, the Leafs have some wiggle room to dip into free agency.
They could either try to go big and sign an expensive free agent like Alex Pietrangelo, who would immediately help the Leafs blueline in a number of ways, or they could try to target a few, cheaper top four defencemen. If they go for the latter, Sami Vatanen, T.J. Brodie or even Chris Tanev could be viable options.
The Leafs could also take a look at a cheap forward or two, such as Joe Thornton, whose name has been thrown around at times.
Nevertheless, the Toronto Maple Leafs will definitely be looking to fill holes in free agency.
5. Make Trades
If free agency doesn’t land the players the Toronto Maple Leafs need, perhaps trading will.
The Leafs have knowingly been holding some expendable trade assets in Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson.
The Leafs need for defencemen will be more apparent than ever before with the dismissals of Ceci and Barrie this offseason, so going the trade route might be imminent.
The Leafs should definitely try to work out a deal for some decent top-four defencemen if they can. Names like Josh Manson and Brett Pesce will keep showing up, which means the Leafs may have to be that much more aggressive in trying to acquire them.
Next. Top 5 Potential Freddie Andersen Replacements. dark
Whether or not the season continues, the Leafs surely will have a big offseason ahead.