No. 4: Two Gritty Forwards will be signed.
Many people seem to think that the Toronto Maple Leafs need to become tougher to play against and President Brendan Shanahan recognizes this, or at least played along in his end of season press conference, where the Red Wings legend mentioned, “compete level and grit are areas that we might have to help our team a little bit with.”
As such, I predict Dubas is going to ink a couple of forwards who may not be considered “Dubas Types”. Players in the mold of Jake Muzzin or Kyle Clifford or Zach Hyman – three players he acquired, so maybe those are ‘Dubas style players’ after all.
With Joe Thornton already slated to come on board, a player like Johan Larsson could be inclined to join as well. Being tagged an absolute pain to play against, the defensive specialist put up very respectable metrics on a supremely awful Buffalo Sabres team.
Having started 61% of his draws in the defensive zone, Larsson still managed to register a positive Corsi-for percentage of 51%, which actually led all regular Sabres forwards (stats; evolving-hockey.com). Even more telling was his Corsi-for percentage relative to his teammates, coming in at 2.4. Take a look at Larrson’s most common matchups:
Adding Joe Thornton and a player similar to Johan Larsson will go a long way in changing their standing amongst their opposition.
No. 3: Frederik Gauthier and Denis Malgin are not re-signed.
Former first-round pick Frederik Gauthier has had an interesting career with the Leafs. Standing at 6’5”, 239 lbs, all the tools were there for the Goat to become a dominant force in the NHL. In his five years in the league, he has never recorded double-digit goals in a season, setting a career-high with seven this year. He has only reached double-digit points twice – the past two seasons – and has significantly fallen out of favour in Toronto (stats; NHL.com).
In Phase 3 of the NHL’s return to play, Gauthier won the Leafs fourth-line center role heading into the Columbus series. However, after game 1, Keefe decided the Goat did not bring enough to his line and opted for more skill going with Pierre Engvall.
The Quebec native never saw game action again, and as an RFA this offseason, it is likely he will never wear the Blue and White again. Likewise, Denis Malgin is also in a curious position. Personally, I was not as disappointed in Malgin’s play as others were. I thought he looked fine in his short stint with the Leafs and definitely would not be opposed to him inking a low-risk deal with Toronto.
However, I see him more likely opting to return to his hometown in Switzerland, where he can earn more money and contribute to a higher capacity than he would be able to with Toronto. Gauthier and Malgin both showed flashes of potential, but with neither one being able to play consistent hockey at all, it is unfortunate their time has run out with the Leafs.