Toronto Maple Leafs: 5 Players to Replace Zach Hyman
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.
#5. Alex Kerfoot
Kerfoot is typically a centre, but has played left-wing in the past. Currently on the books at $3.5M for the next two seasons, Kerfoot could be a good replacement on the first-line beside Auston Matthews.
Kerfoot got a lot of backlash last season because he was too often compared to Nazem Kadri. If the Leafs had signed Kerfoot instead of traded for him, I think the narrative would have been a lot different because he is a completely different player than the one he was traded for.
Probably the best defensive forward on the Leafs, he’s the perfect match with the offensive threat of Matthews and Marner. Kerfoot can also chip in with a few goals and probably provide the same offense as Hyman did. Last season Kerfoot scored at the same rate as John Tavares did during 5v5 play.
In 222 career NHL games, he’s scored 43 goals and had 113 points, but you’d have to imagine that number would rise playing with one of the best centre’s in the league. Just look what Matthews did to Hyman’s career by playing with nightly already. Although Hyman deserves credit for working hard, he’s been a beneficiary to his line-mates as well.
The whole narrative of Kerfoot’s career in Toronto would change if he was paired on the top-line every night and he could easily score 20 goals a season, replacing the production that Hyman provided.
#4. Ilya Mikheyev
When the Toronto Maple Leafs re-signed Mikheyev to a two-year contract worth $1.625M per season, the first thing I thought was: “Well, Hyman’s gone now.”
The “Soup-man” is the perfect complimentary winger on the second-line beside John Tavares and William Nylander, but could be in for a promotion to the Auston Matthews line if Hyman doesn’t re-sign. After a successful professional career in Russia, Mikheyev transitioned to the North American game with ease.
His post-season was disappointing but his regular season was brilliant. Scoring eight games in 39 games, “Soup-man” was on a roll before a devastating wrist laceration stopped his campaign. That injury could have been the reason for his mediocre post-season, but with a ton of time off to heal, you’d have to think he’ll be back to normal for the start of the 2020-21 season.
By promoting Mikheyev to the top-line in absence of Hyman, this would give the most value out of his contract because he’d be put in a better position to score. Not to discredit John Tavares and William Nylander, but the combination of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner gives “Soup-man” a slightly better chance to contribute offensively.
#3. Zach Sanford
Why not replace one Zach with another one? This is like when a TV show replaces the character with another actor but keeps the character the same person. Nobody will notice a difference!
Sanford is a little less offensively gifted than Hyman, but if you put him on the top-line in Toronto, it’s possible he could get similar production. I mean, I think you could put me on that line and I would score 10 goals per season and I’m a pylon.
The 25-year-old is a little bigger than Hyman at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds and could be a great complement to Matthews and Marner. Although he’s not much of an enforcer, that size is important for retrieving pucks and having a net-front presence.
Currently making $1.5M, unless Sanford has a 30-goal season, the Toronto Maple Leafs could probably sign him for similar money, if not less than the $2.25M that Hyman is currently making. That’s critical because if the team can get a similar player as Hyman for his current price-tag, that would help fill other holes in the line-up.
Sanford was also a contributor with St. Louis when they won the Stanley Cup in 2019, so that experience always helps when deciding what player to sign.
#2. Nick Robertson
What better player to replace Hyman than to give the youngster a promotion to the top-line?
I’m sure my expectations are way too high for Nick Robertson, but how can you not be excited for him in the NHL? In his last 100 games in the OHL, he had 82(!) goals. If he could score at half that rate in the show, he’d be an unbelievable asset to the Leafs.
He may be small, but that shouldn’t matter. He has an elite shot and on a wing with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, he could be lethal. I don’t think it’s farfetched to think that Robertson could score 30 goals paired beside those players every night.
Currently making $821,667 on an Entry Level Contract for three more seasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs could be getting an absolute steal by having Robertson on the top-line. Also, what better way to improve and get used to the NHL, then to play with the best players against the other team’s best opponents?
Instead of easing him into the line-up, he could learn the hard-way by playing tough minutes nightly. This could obviously backfire, but I think Robertson is far too talented to fail. Especially paired beside arguably two future Hall-of-Famers every night.
#1. Barclay Goodrow
By the way people were talking about Goodrow during the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup run, you’d think that he was Wayne Gretzky.
After controversially trading a first-round pick to acquire Goodrow, it clearly worked out because the Lightning won the Stanley Cup. In a way, the Toronto Maple Leafs are eerily similar to the Tampa Bay Lightning and a player like Goodrow could be a great addition for them.
Goodrow doesn’t provide much offensively (his career high is eight goals), but it’s everything else that makes him so desirable. He’s a great penalty-killer, hits a lot and is always defensively responsible. He may not score a ton, even paired beside Matthews and Marner, but he’s going to make that line better defensively.
The other thing that makes Goodrow such a good potential signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs, is because he’s from Toronto. After winning a Stanley Cup in Tampa, he may be comfortable there, but the desire to win a Stanley Cup in his hometown could be worth leaving.
Currently making $925K per season, I still can’t see anyone paying more than $2.5M for his services, which is right in the wheelhouse for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In Free Agency, people pay for goals and Goodrow isn’t that type of player, so Toronto could get a steal if they wanted to acquire him.
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Although Goodrow is typically a third-line winger, he could make the Toronto Maple Leafs top-line much better defensively and may be able to chip in 15 goals per season if everything went right.