No. 3: Mike Hoffman
The Kitchener, ON native is a pending UFA and could be someone the Leafs pursue in the offseason.
For the same price as Zach Hyman, the Leafs could probably sign Hoffman, who’s a more established goal-scorer. Since 2014, Hoffman has scored 20-plus goals in every season, and was on-pace to do so again if this were a typical 82-game season.
No matter where Hoffman plays, he scores goals. If Toronto wants to stack their roster with another proven goal-scorer, there aren’t too many better options than Hoffman, especially for the price.
Hoffman signed a one-year, $4M per season contract last year and bet on himself. If he’s fine with another one or two-year deal at similar pricing, he could fit perfectly with the Leafs. However, if he’s trying to get paid between $6-7M, that’s clearly too rich for Toronto.
Toronto’s biggest problem heading down the stretch was their powerplay, which is Hoffman’s strength. 35 percent of his career goals have came with the man-advantage and during the 2018-19 season, he finished fifth in powerplay goals with 17 on the year.
There has been some baggage during Hoffman’s career, but a homecoming could be a great opportunity for him to start fresh. As a player who’s previously scored 36 goals in a season, you’d have to think that he’d return to that form playing with Matthews and Marner every night.