Zach Hyman is set to become an Unrestricted Free Agent after the 2020-21 season and the Toronto Maple Leafs will most likely need to replace him.
The acquisition of Zach Hyman in exchange for Greg McKegg is one of the best transactions in Toronto Maple Leafs history, but his career in the blue-and-white may be coming to an end soon.
The 28-year-old has turned into a fan-favourite and although it would be unfortunate to see him leave, the team may not be able to afford him once he is due for a new contract. Hyman has shown the hockey-world that he can skate with some of the best players in the league and be a retriever for them. Not only that, but with back-to-back 20-goal campaigns, he’s also found his scoring touch.
Currently on the last year of his $2.25M cap-hit, Hyman’s contract is one of the best values in the NHL. On the open-market, a player like Hyman should be making double his salary, if he’s able to continue to score at a 20-goal mark.
Even if Hyman takes a discount to stay in Toronto, his contract would probably have to start at a minimum of $4M and that even seems too rich for the Leafs at the moment. Although they still have a number of forward positions unsigned for next year, all of those players are making $1.5M or less, so although there’s spots available, there’s not a lot of money tied to those spots.
The Toronto Maple Leafs only have about $13M in cap-space at the moment for next year, and they still need to re-sign Freddie Andersen or find a starting goaltender, so money is definitely tight.
Unless the Toronto Maple Leafs do something drastic, Hyman may be on the outside looking in and as a result, the team would have to replace him. The team could look within the organization or outside, but there are a few players that could fill his void if he’s gone.
Here are five players that could replace Zach Hyman.