Editor In Leaf
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4 Players the Toronto Maple Leafs Should NOT Re-Sign

By Stephen Nixon

MONTREAL, QC - MAY 24: Joe Thornton #97 of the Toronto Maple Leafs screens goaltender Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens during the first period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 24, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MAY 24: Joe Thornton #97 of the Toronto Maple Leafs screens goaltender Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens during the first period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 24, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – MAY 20: Corey Perry #94 of the Montreal Canadiens fights Nick Foligno #71 of the Toronto Maple Leafs  . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

No. 2: Nick Foligno

If the Boston Bruins make the Stanley Cup Finals, there will be a ton of debate as to why the Toronto Maple Leafs gave up a first-round pick for Foligno, while they could have gotten Taylor Hall for a second-round pick, instead.

When the trade was made, Foligno made sense. He was a veteran who could play wing and centre and was someone who everyone thought would chip in with a few goals. Unfortunately, he played through an injury and in the 11 games he played with the Leafs, he went goal-less, while contributing five assists.

Foligno is coming off a six-year, $33M contract and although he probably won’t fetch that type of money in free agency, he’s going to be looking for a contract that is out of Toronto’s price-range.

The idea of having someone like Foligno on the team makes sense, but the execution never happened. He was a leader in Game 1 when John Tavares went down, but his injury stuck him on the fourth-line by Game 7.

Giving up a first-round pick for a fourth-line player is a difficult pill to swallow but that’s unfortunately something the Leafs will have to live with.

Based on the amount of money that Foligno will be asking for, and the fact that he didn’t do much during his short-stint in Toronto, it wouldn’t make sense to explore a contract with him and the team should let him walk in free agency.

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