4 Players Toronto Maple Leafs Should Re-Sign This Offseason
The Toronto Maple Leafs had a disappointing end to their season but there are a few players they should still consider re-resigning.
When we looked at the Toronto Maple Leafs roster at the beginning of the season, they seemed to be a shoe-in to finally get out of the first round. They seemed to have a balance of skill, grit, defense, goaltending and high-end talent. And throughout the regular season, they lived up to all expectations.
They won the North Division and were one of the best teams in the NHL. Although we couldn’t compare them directly to the American teams, by all accounts, it felt like they would give a team like the Boston Bruins or Colorado Avalanche a true test in the playoffs.
The road to this happening seemed likely. After dominating their opponents in the North Division all season, they had an “easy” path towards the Final Four. Everybody looked past Montreal and assumed they would be facing the Edmonton Oilers in the Second Round.
After Edmonton got swept, making the Final Four seemed even more attainable. The Leafs were in control of their series and Winnipeg wasn’t as much of a threat as we thought Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl would be.
However, everything fell apart and the dream matchup of Toronto vs. Edmonton has now turned into Winnipeg vs. Montreal, which I won’t be watching one second of.
With the season finished, there were a number of pending free agents that performed very well this year and a few that didn’t. Before we talk about those were performed poorly, let’s look at those individuals who deserve to be brought back.
Here are four Toronto Maple Leafs players that the team should re-sign this offseason.
No. 1: Travis Dermott
There are two logical reasons as to why the Toronto Maple Leafs should re-sign Dermott immediately.
The first reason is that Dermott is a legitimate NHL defenseman and can play bottom-pairing minutes effectively. He made a tough play during Game 6 that cost them the overtime goal, but besides that, he was solid.
Paired beside Zach Bogosian all year, the two of them had a good chemistry as the third pair of a very steady defensive core. Also, since he’s a pending Restricted Free Agent (RFA), the team should be able to get him on the cheap once again, and he probably won’t be making much more than the $875K that he made last year.
The other reason why the team should re-sign him quickly is to expose him in the Seattle Expansion Draft.
Toronto is going to have to expose someone, so Dermott would be the most logical person to do so, over someone like Justin Holl or Alex Kerfoot. It’s possible that Seattle would prefer Michael Hutchinson or another player of that caliber, who Toronto will expose, but Dermott is someone the Leafs can afford to give up.
With Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren ready for a full-time role, it wouldn’t be the end of the world to lose Dermott in the Expansion Draft, so it would be a smart decision to sign him, and expose him, or worst case, they get to keep him and he can be a valuable piece as a depth defenseman.
No. 2: Zach Bogosian
Similar to Travis Dermott, Bogosian played very well for someone who makes $1M. After performing so well on the Leafs and with the Tampa Bay Lightning, it’s possible that another contender could pay him around $2M to do a similar job with them next season.
If that’s the case, the team cannot afford to pay him that much to come back, but if he’s willing to sign for $1M once again, there’s no reason not to bring him back.
Bogosian was incredibly reliable this year and performed exceptional, as the fifth defenseman. He had a calmness about him, but also this grit that made opponents cringe when they faced him.
He provided zero offense, but that’s not what he was brought in for. He had a great ability to kill penalties and was a good veteran for Dermott to play with.
If Dermott isn’t available to return, Bogosian becomes even more valuable to the Leafs, as Rasmus Sandin would more than likely fill his void as the everyday third-pairing defenseman.
Sandin, who’s only 21-years-old, would benefit greatly from playing with a veteran like Bogosian, who is your typical stay-at-home defenseman. Sandin’s game would improve playing with someone who’s very reliable, and it would give him the ability to rush the puck and play his style more comfortably, knowing that Bogosian is sitting back.
Since the Leafs are a cap-strapped team, this only makes sense as another one-year $1M deal, so hopefully Bogosian can agree to those terms and return to Toronto.
No. 3: Zach Hyman
Zach Hyman should buy Freddie Andersen a new car if he re-signs in Toronto with a monster deal, because he’s the reason the team will be able to afford to bring him back.
Heading into the season, there was a debate about which player the Leafs should resign. If Andersen had a great year, should they bring him back, or should they reward the consistent 20-goal winger who gives 110 percent every time he steps on the ice.
Now that it feels like there’s a zero percent chance Andersen returns, the likelihood of the Leafs re-signing Hyman has gone up tremendously.
Hyman’s current $2.25M contract was a steal for the Leafs. It was a big reason why the team could afford to sign Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander to their big price-tag’s, because they knew they were getting a huge return on Hyman’s deal.
Hyman is a top-line winger paired because Matthews, but he’s still not someone who’s going to drive a line. He’s going to work his butt off to retrieve pucks, and continue to keep the puck in the offensive zone. He’s a huge value to this team and the Leafs need to bring him back.
The price-tag for Hyman will be incredibly interesting. Ideally, you wouldn’t want him to make more than $4M per season, but it’s quite possible that his camp will be asking for $5M-plus. If he’s asking for that much, it’s going to be very hard for Toronto to re-sign him, without shipping out a big-name player and completely ruining their depth.
However, without worrying about what the eventual price-tag will be, the Leafs need to do everything in their power to bring back Zach Hyman. He wasn’t the issue with this team losing in the First Round and his effort should be rewarded.
No. 4: Jason Spezza
Who would have thought that Jason Spezza would have been the most consistent player for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs? (At least other than William Nylander).
Spezza had five points (including three goals) in seven games this playoff series and looked like he’d drank from the fountain of youth. He played great all season, but there were zero expectations on him to perform so highly when the playoffs started.
If you would have told 1000 Leafs fans prior to the series that Spezza would have scored three goals, they would have assumed that Toronto swept Montreal. His goal-scoring should be a bonus for Toronto, instead of the number-one option.
Since Spezza is a local kid and loves his time in Toronto, he will return to the team, as long as they want him.
Jason Spezza on if he'd like to return to the #Leafs:
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) June 2, 2021
"Yeah, I would. I feel like there's a lot of unfinished business, I feel very invested in the group here and hopeful that I get another opportunity to do that again next year and push this team over the top."
There’s no reason to believe that he will ask for anymore than $700K again, so that the organization can build as much talent around him.
Although Spezza played great and turned back the clock this year, we shouldn’t expect him to replicate it again. He’s going to be one year older and sooner than later, the production won’t be there. However, for $700K, the team needs to re-sign him, just in case he can do it all over again and be that veteran in the room that everyone plays for.
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We all want to see Spezza win a Stanley Cup before he retires and we all want it to be with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hopefully, he has another one or two years left in the tank and this team can finally do it for him.