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4 Options For the Toronto Maple Leafs and Frederik Andersen

By Carter Loewen

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs makes a save against Columbus Blue Jackets in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 07, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs makes a save against Columbus Blue Jackets in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 07, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON- APRIL 16 – Brendan Shanahan and Kyle Dubas chat was they watch the Toronto Maple Leaf. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Option 1: Resign

The first option for the Leafs and Freddie Andersen is to re-sign him.  This, however, would be risky due to Andersen’s age and likely contract demands.

The 2019-2020 season will hopefully be a one-off for Andersen after posting career-lows. Looking to improve upon numbers in the regular season, during the NHL Playoff Play-in, Andersen proved that it was just that, a one-off. Andersen posted spectacular numbers with a sub 1.84 GAA and a .936 SV%. before falling to the Blue Jackets in the best-of-5 series.

The Leafs do have time to decide whether or not to pull some more cap shenanigans and resign the elite goaltender, but unless Andersen and his agent decide to go down a path that would see a form of hometown discount it is likely that the former 87th-overall pick of the 2012 entry draft would be seeking a sizable raise.

After seeing contracts of the likes of Sergei Bobrovsky (7-year, $70 million), and Andrei Vasilecskiy (8-year, $76 million) among others, Andersen can certainly look to the open market for a vastly greater amount than the Leafs will be able to sign him for.

As it stands right now, Kyle Dubas and the Leafs are projected to have $16.4 million in cap space to work with for the 2021 offseason while still having to look forward to giving contracts to Travis Dermott, a plethora of bottom-6 forwards, as well as a future Morgan Rielly extension after the 2021-2022 season.

Realistically it is unlikely (without a hometown discount) that the Leafs will have the cap space required to sign an elite goaltender the likes of Frederik Andersen.

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