Top 3 Players the Toronto Maple Leafs Should NOT Re-Sign
After a four-month layoff, the Toronto Maple Leafs gave their fans one week of excitement before ultimately losing in the qualifying series.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are still a really good hockey team.
They may have lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets in five games but it doesn’t mean they should change the entire roster.
The Leafs offense had chance after chance to score on the Blue Jackets goaltenders but they couldn’t capitalize.
How does a big-four worth $40 million go two games without scoring one single goal?
Well, as much as I hate to say this, it was just unlucky.
If you play that series 100 times over, the Leafs are winning it 90 percent of the time.
Regardless of how it unfolded, there were a few players that disappointed and didn’t help the Leafs chances at winning.
With eight pending unrestricted free agents (UFA) or restricted free agents (RFA) the Leafs will have to make a few big decisions about who to keep and who should walk.
Here are three players the the Toronto Maple Leafs should not re-sign.
#3. Cody Ceci
Although he had more goals than Mitch Marner (LOL) in the playoffs, Ceci must go.
Ceci is coming off a $4.5 million cap-hit and it’s unsure what his price-tag will be in the offseason, but any dollar invested into him is not worth it.
The lights are brighter in the playoffs and when adversity hits, you want someone you can trust on your blue-line.
That player is not Ceci.
During overtime, Ceci had a great opportunity to fire the puck on net with Jason Spezza screening the goaltender in front. He had a defender near him but he still had a ton of time to shoot the puck and get something on net.
Instead, he airmailed one 80 feet sideways to give Columbus possession ruining a huge chance.
Ceci continued his ‘incredible’ play in Game 5.
Morgan Rielly set up Ceci perfectly who then had a chance for an easy five-foot pass to Kasperi Kapanen who was breaking down the middle of the ice.
Instead of executing this Peewee-level pass, he missed Kapanen completely leading to a missed chance.
Who knows if Kapanen would have been able to get the puck through, but there were two Leafs in-front screening the goaltender and it could have created a chance.
The Leafs cannot take an opportunity on re-signing Ceci, especially with Rasmus Sandin, Mikko Lehtonen and Timothy Liljegren all vowing for a spot on the blue-line next year.
#2. Tyson Barrie
Right-handed defensemen are hard to come by so it’s unfortunate that Barrie didn’t work out in the Blue-and-White.
His skating ability is great but he’s not needed on this Leafs line-up.
Puck-moving defenseman are all fine and dandy but they need to create offense to be important. Instead, they become a huge liability if they can’t score.
I expected a lot from Barrie in five games this playoffs. It felt like he was going to make a difference and step his game up.
As a pending UFA, he had a down-year for his standards, but a huge playoff-run would have given him a chance to get paid.
Instead, he didn’t do anything special and has shown the Leafs front-office that he is 100 percent expendable.
Averaging 0.62 points per game for his NHL career, Barrie is expected to produce in a five-game series.
Instead, Barrie had 0 goals and 0 points, leaving Leafs Nation to miss Nazem Kadri even more.
Before Barrie signed with the Leafs, he was looking at an eight year, $8 million per season type of contract but after his performance in Toronto, it’s safe to assume he’s not getting more than $6 million per season on a much shorter contract.
Regardless of the contract, Barrie is not worth re-signing, especially in a Toronto market that is going to rip him to shreds.
#1. Ilya Mikheyev
There’s no player on the Leafs roster that I was looking forward to watching more than Mikheyev.
Maybe it was because we hadn’t seen him play since December, 2019, or because he won the Phase 3 “MVP” in training camp, but it felt like the Leafs were getting a dynamic winger back in their line-up.
With Andreas Johnsson injured for the first four games of the series against Columbus, the “Soup-man” was looked at as a great replacement for offense.
In a full 82-game season, Mikheyev was on-pace for 17 goals, which would have been a great rookie season. With a number of professional seasons under his belt in the KHL, the 25-year-old was the type of player you would have thought you could rely on in the playoffs.
Mikheyev had played over 40 playoff games in the KHL and was a key player for Omsk Avangard, who lost in the KHL Finals last year.
Instead, the soup was served cold when the 2020 qualifying series began.
Mikheyev seemed like a no-brainier to re-sign before the series started but afterwards I seriously think it would be a huge risk. Especially since his value came from the $925,000 contract that was attached to his name.
In five games, “Souper-man” registered 0 points and was demoted to the third line after starting the series beside John Tavares and Mitch Marner.
With a pay-raise expected to happen for Mikheyev, the Leafs have more than enough wingers (Alexander Barabanov, Adam Brooks, Nick Robertson, Kenny Agostino, Nic Petan, etc.) who can fill his void next season.
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Sorry Leafs executive team; “No soup for you!”