Editor In Leaf
Fansided

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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next
Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – FEBRUARY 17: Frederik Andersen #31 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

No. 3: Freddie Andersen

The rise and fall of Freddie Andersen was pretty quick in Toronto. His five-year, $5M AAV contract was a steal when he was acquired by Anaheim, but he was eventually replaced by a goalie who had never been a starter before.

When you’re constructing a hockey team in the salary-cap world, it’s incredibly important to get as much value out of your players, especially when you have four forwards making $40M combined. Now that the team trusts Jack Campbell as their starting goalie, it makes zero sense to re-sign Andersen, as his number will be way too high.

Campbell makes $1.65M, which is a steal for a number-one goalie, so they can now use the $5M that they were paying Andersen, on a cheap 1B netminder and spread the money throughout the lineup.

At 31-years-old, Andersen still has a lot of hockey left in him, and personally, I think he’s going to perform well wherever he goes. His workload and injuries have been a huge concern with Toronto and it’s really hurt his play on the ice.

If he uses the offseason to rehab and finds himself in a tandem situation where he only has to play 40 games per year, I think he would be very useful. However, the Game 7 baggage and his high price-tag is too much for Toronto to consider re-signing him, when they value Jack Campbell so highly.

Home/Editorials