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Not Signing Alex Pietrangelo Was the Toronto Maple Leafs Best Move

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 7: Alex Pietrangelo #27 of the St. Louis Blues skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 7, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blues defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 7: Alex Pietrangelo #27 of the St. Louis Blues skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on October 7, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blues defeated the Maple Leafs 3-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs missed out on the top-ranked UFA this off-season and it’s for the best.

Remember when we wanted the Toronto Maple Leafs to sign Alex Pietrangelo? Oh what a time to be alive.

Pietrangelo was the best free agent defenseman to become available in years and he actually wanted to play for the Leafs. The King City, ON native had the St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs at the top of his destination list before ultimately choosing Vegas.

Obviously the Leafs didn’t feel the same way that Pietrangelo felt or else he would joined Toronto. Just like the Leafs had done with current captain John Tavares a few years ago, if they really wanted the best right-handed defenseman to come home, they would have made it a reality.

As great as it would have been to see the former Stanley Cup winner on the blue-line with Morgan Rielly or Jake Muzzin, not signing him is the best move they’ve made all off-season. And they’ve made a ton of great moves already.

Leafs Have Spent Their Money Wisely This Off-season

Pietrangelo signed a seven-year deal worth $8.8M per season with Vegas this off-season. If the Leafs would have given him that contract they would have had to perform major surgery on their roster. Thank god they didn’t do that, and here’s what they’ve done instead:

  • Wanye Simmonds ($1.5M)
  • Travis Boyd ($700K)
  • Joe Thornton ($700K)
  • Jason Spezza ($700K)
  • Jimmy Vesey ($900K)
  • Zach Bogosian ($1M)
  • TJ Brodie ($5M)

For $10.5M, or $1.7M more than Pietrangelo, the Leafs brought in seven players. They decided to fill the right-side of their defense with a cheaper top-four defenseman in TJ Brodie and a depth-piece in Zach Bogosian.

With funds still available from not signing Pietrangelo, the Leafs then were able to add veteran talent in Jason Spezza and Joe Thornton, as well as cheap third or fourth-line talent in Jimmy Vesey, Travis Boyd and Wayne Simmonds.

For essentially the price of what one player would have cost, the Leafs changed roughly 30 percent of their entire roster.  Although they’ve added more bodies, are they better or worse off without having Pietrangelo? I think that answer is pretty obvious now that we’ve seen what Kyle Dubas has done this off-season.

Sure, a first-defensive pairing of Rielly and Pietrangelo would have been the best in the NHL, but the additions he made have been incredible. Depth is so important in the NHL and you need to have at least eight defenseman to win the Stanley Cup.

If Pietrangelo joined the Leafs and he got injured, the team would be in the same situation they were last year. At least now if TJ Brodie goes down, the Leafs have a veteran in Bogosian to fill the spot, instead of relying on a young Timothy Liljegren or Rasmus Sandin to do so.

By not signing Pietrangelo and adding Brodie and Bogosian, it ended up slotting everyone in a much better spot than they previously were. And most importantly, the Leafs didn’t have to give up any of their core to get better.

Next. The Leafs Should Trade Travis Dermott. dark

Kudos to Leafs management thus far. The ability to add depth for cheap should help get this team over the edge sooner than later.

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