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3 Moves the Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Make for Next Season

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 06: Kyle Clifford #73 and Jason Spezza #19 of the Toronto Maple Leafs collide with Joonas Korpisalo #70 of the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 06, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 06: Kyle Clifford #73 and Jason Spezza #19 of the Toronto Maple Leafs collide with Joonas Korpisalo #70 of the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 06, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ONTARIO – AUGUST 06: Kyle Clifford #73 and Jason Spezza #19 of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /

#3. Re-Sign Depth Forwards

The Toronto Maple Leafs third-line may look a lot different next season but the fourth-line should stay in-tact.

During the qualifying series, the fourth-line of Jason Spezza, Kyle Clifford and Pierre Engvall was the hardest working line beside the top-unit of Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and John Tavares. Although nobody on the line scored a goal or contributed a point offensively, they provided a spark and energy that nobody else on the team was doing.

Engvall is already signed for next season at $1.25M, but Clifford and Spezza are UFA’s. There is no other player on the Leafs that plays like Clifford, so the team needs to bring him back immediately. As shown in that qualifying series, he wasn’t afraid to hit everyone in sight and that’s the type of guy you need in the post-season.

Obviously the dollar-figure is incredibly important in re-signing Clifford, because you can’t pay a fourth-line player $1.5M on this team. However, if he’s willing to sign for around $1M to play for his hometown team, it would be a good price for him, although his agent said this week he will be testing free agency.

The 37-year-old Spezza showed no signs of slowing down this year and there’s no reason to believe he wouldn’t sign for the league minimum. For only about $1.75M, the Leafs should bring back two forwards that are extremely important to the depth of the team.

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