Grading Every Toronto Maple Leafs Offseason Move

Toronto Maple Leafs - Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan at the draft (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Toronto Maple Leafs - Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan at the draft (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – NOVEMBER 7: Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Ilya Mikheyev

When the Leafs brought over Ilya Mikheyev from Russia prior to the 2019-20 campaign, no one expected much out of him. He registered 45 points in 62 games in the KHL for the 2018-19 season but was more than unlikely to come close to that point total against the best of the best in the NHL.

He was simply a player that the Leafs were going to put in a bottom six role. Once he found his footing with the team, he became a fan favourite among the blue and white faithful which gave him the nickname of soup due to his liking of the dish.

He appeared in 39 games recording 23 points (eight goals and 15 assists). His performance led to him being an early contender for the Calder Memorial Trophy which is handed out to the best rookie each year but his play eventually cooled down. It also didn’t help with the fact that he suffered a wrist laceration during a game which forced him to miss three months.

As he was a restricted free agent, the team had full control of his destiny. They were set to head to arbitration over his salary but at the eleventh hour, they struck an agreement on a contract. At first, his contract would have put the team over the salary cap so Dubas asked to alter his contract a little bit which he obliged.

The deal is for two years and $3.29 million which will get him $1.645 million a year. A fair value for a player of Mikheyev’s role.

Grade: B+