Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Things to Expect In The Next Week
This may be a weird time for everyone, but things are about to pick up for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the next 10 days.
In the next 10 days, the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and Free Agent Frenzy will all take place for the Toronto Maple Leafs. After having a rollercoaster ride of emotions for five games in August, expect a lot to happen in the next few days.
Besides winning a Stanley Cup, the off-season is the most fun time of the year to be a sports fan. After the season finishes, a clean slate filled with optimism and rumors is so much fun. For the past few months, we’ve been talking about Alex Pietrangelo becoming a Leaf and even if that doesn’t happen, it’s been fun as hell talking about it.
The same thing happened with John Tavares two years ago and that actually happened! For a full season, you would crack jokes to New York Islanders fans, saying I hope you’re enjoying JT in Long Island, because before you know it, he’s going to be scoring 40 goals a season in his hometown. The fact that the Leafs were able to actually acquire a big-name like Tavares was insane and just as much fun as watching him play every night.
Free Agency is going to be a crazy few days in Toronto and so is the NHL Draft. There’s nothing more fun than watching the NHL Entry Draft and getting mad or pumped at the Leafs drafting a player you’ve never heard of. Every Draft night you talk yourself into being an expert, even though you have no idea who these 18-year-olds are and what type of player they’re going to turn into.
I remember thinking Frederik Gauthier was the biggest steal of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, but that hasn’t turned out the way we hoped. Maybe next year he’ll be that shutdown two-way centre we all hoped and win the Selke Award….
Doubtful.
Regardless, here are three things to expect from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the next 10 days.
#3. Trade First Round Pick
When the Toronto Maple Leafs originally traded their first-round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes with Patrick Marleau, I felt OK about the deal. It was the necessary move in order to get rid of the terrible Marleau contract. However, after the team didn’t even make the playoffs this year, it was disheartening knowing they didn’t have a first-round pick.
But then, Kyle Dubas totally redeemed himself, receiving Pittsburgh’s first-round pick in the Kasperi Kapenen trade. Now that the Leafs have the 15th overall selection, expect the team to move it, instead of keeping it.
The Leafs have a large number of assets, but not a ton of tradeable ones. I mean, teams are lining up to acquire players like Auston Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly, but they’re all most likely untouchable. The biggest trade piece the Leafs have is their first-round pick.
A first-round pick in the NHL is like gold to most teams, especially this season. The Leafs could always use a good player on an Entry Level Contract, but a 15th overall selection may not play for your team for another two-three years. Unfortunately the Leafs don’t have that type of time to wait, so I’d expect them to trade that pick to acquire a player who can step into their line-up right away.
Maybe it’s a defenseman, or maybe it’s a goaltender, but expect the Leafs to move their first-round pick by October 6.
#2. Trade Freddie Andersen
Speaking of trades, Freddie Andersen is more likely on his way out this off-season and it wouldn’t be shocking if that trade happened in the next few days.
The UFA market for goaltenders is very affluent this off-season, so if the Leafs see a net-minder much cheaper than $5M per season that they like, Andersen could be on the move. Although Andersen has been a steady goalie, he’s played himself into a bigger contract than one the Leafs can afford.
Currently making $5M per season, many people expect his next contract to be worth between $6-7.5M per season on the open-market. With so much money tied up to their forwards, and huge extensions pending for their UFA’s, the Leafs cannot afford to pay a goaltender that much.
Personally, I’d love to see the Leafs ride out the season with Andersen because I loved how he played in the qualifying series, but it doesn’t seem doable. The salary cap is not going up and many other teams have proved that they can win with a 1A and 1B goalie approach, instead of an expensive number-one goalie.
If trading Andersen means the Leafs defense is going to be improved and the team can keep Nylander, Marner, Matthews and Tavares for another season, I’m all for it. However, if the Leafs end up trading Andersen just to clear cap-space without improving the back-end, that’ll be disheartening.
Regardless, it wouldn’t shock me if Andersen is moved on Draft Night or right before Free Agency starts.
#1. Leafs Go Bargain Shopping
The Leafs will be shopping like me next week when they hit Free Agency. They’re going to do everything they can to sign a player for $750K that ends up worth $2-3M by the end of the season.
Similar to what the Leafs did with Jason Spezza last year and many others, I’d expect the team to sign a number of different players to a one-year league minimum contract. In terms of players available that may want to sign in Toronto for a one year deal, here are a few names to look at:
- Jason Spezza
- Justin Williams
- Corey Perry
We all know that Spezza wants to return to the Leafs next year, so if he’s willing to take the league minimum again, I don’t know why Toronto wouldn’t sign him. He’s a great leader and showed he can still play during the qualifying series. At $750K for one season, it makes so much sense to sign him again.
Williams is a very interesting experiment. Having already retired once, he decided to return to the NHL and take one more crack at a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes. Although they didn’t win a Cup, he was a productive player in the minimal games he appeared in. Similar to Spezza, Williams is a local kid (Coburg, ON) and has a ton of family and friends in Toronto. Assuming he’s willing to take the league-minimum, the three-time Stanley Cup champion and former Conn Smythe winner could be an unbelievable leader and mentor to the young kids on the Leafs.
You can see a theme here with bargain shopping. Perry grew up two hours east of Toronto in Peterborough and has already thought about becoming a Leaf in the past. Back in 2015, Perry thought about signing in Toronto to play in front of family and friends, before ultimately deciding to return to Anaheim. Now that he’s 35-years-old, with little time left in his NHL career, he may want to live closer to home and experience the lifestyle of playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Next. Toronto Maple Leafs Hypothetical Trade: Ducks. dark
Whether or not any of these players actually sign in Toronto, expect the Leafs to sign a few players like the guys I mentioned to bargain contracts next week.