As the Toronto Maple Leafs head into the off-season, questions reside in if changes have to be made to upgrade the team
Defence wins championships. The Toronto Maple Leafs have one of the better forward groups in the league, and even though they were defensively excellent against Columbus, the Leafs do need to upgrade their defense.
Don’t let the series against the Columbus Blue Jackets fool you. It was only five games, and Columbus is a low scoring team. The blue line still needs work.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were lacking that sandpaper, no-nonsense, defense first minded d-man once Muzzin exited the series due to having to sit out. A healthy Muzzin and the emergence of Rasmus Sandin will go a long way in in improving the blue line, but the Leafs still need help.
Going into next season, Tyson Barrie, and Cody Ceci will be gone, Dermott is a quetion mark, and Mikko Lehtonen will be here. But there still isn’t much sandpaper.
So what about Radko Gudas?
Signing Radko Gudas
Radko Gudas, the 6’0 205lbs rock from Prague is someone that you don’t want to mess around with.
He brings that grit and sandpaper that doesn’t show up on the scoresheet but doesn’t go unnoticed on the ice.
GM Kyle Dubas has a philosophy and vision of how he wants a hockey team to play, but many people still believe that if you don’t have “old-school’ players that you aren’t going to go very far.
The addition of Muzzin, and Clifford are a step in the right direction but more still needs to be done in order to make this team tougher to play against.
Gudas on the Toronto Maple Leafs would probably play on the bottom pairing.
While playing with the lightning and Flyers Gudas was known as a defensive d-man but always racked up a ton on penalty minutes and made stupid plays that resulted in suspensions. Now with the Capitals he hasn’t completely changed from his hard-nose style of playing but definitely has calmed down from his younger days.
Gudas would definitely add an element the Leafs could use, but he is also 30 years old and has declined significantly over the last couple of years.
He currently makes $3.5 million dollars and likely wouldn’t be available for less. Statistically, he isn’t worth the money, but from a physical standpoint and for what he might bring to the team, maybe he is.
He is definitely one of the more intriguing UFAs available this off-season.