Top 5 Toronto Maple Leafs Likely to be Traded This Off-Season
#5. Zach Hyman
This one is very interesting.
Hyman is currently making $2.25 million per season and is wildly over-achieving on that contract.
A back-to-back 20 goal scorer, Hyman not only can find the back of the net, but can play on the Penalty Kill and is a great winger to either John Tavares or Auston Matthews every night.
Hyman is the type of player you want on your team and the fact that his contract is such a bargain makes him even more valuable.
He’s absolutely perfect on this Leafs roster when they have so much invested into William Nylander, Mitch Marner, Tavares and Matthews, but there are still cheaper options for the Leafs at wing.
Hyman is set to become a Free Agent after the 2020-21 season and at his current pace, you know he’s going to be asking for a huge raise, so it’s unsure whether or not the Leafs would be able to afford him anyways.
If Hyman isn’t willing to take a ‘home-town discount’ to stay with the Leafs long-term, it may make sense for the team to trade him and get an asset in return instead of letting him walk for free.
The Leafs have been known to hold onto players that are about to hit free agency as home-town rentals, but that was more of a Lou Lamoriello play when he didn’t trade players like: James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov.
Trading Hyman would cause some serious tension in Toronto, but if he can help bolster the defense, maybe it’s worth making the move.