10 Veteran UFA’s Toronto Maple Leafs Could Sign This Offseason
In order for the Toronto Maple Leafs to maximize their roster, they will need to sign a few veterans to league minimum contracts.
Over the past few seasons, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been very successful when it comes to signing cheap veterans. Whether it’s been Jason Spezza, Zach Bogosian or Joe Thornton, the team has been able to ‘woo’ a few talented veterans to take a discount to win in Toronto.
I know some of you may not agree with this statement but the Toronto Maple Leafs are a Stanley Cup contender. After those terrible seven games against Montreal, it may not be easy to think that, but this team has a ton of talent.
Auston Matthews won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy and was a Hart Trophy candidate this year and is only going to get better. At 23-years-old, he hasn’t even hit the prime of his career, so veterans should be lining up to want to play in Toronto.
Just because the Leafs haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967, doesn’t mean they’re cursed. There are no such things as curses in sports. Instead, it’s just been a series of unfortunate events that have led to this 55-year losing streak.
The Tampa Bay Lightning missed the playoffs two years ago and won the Stanley Cup the following season with essentially the same core roster and are in a great spot to repeat as champions. Although it feels like the end of the world, you have to take one step back to move two steps forwards sometimes, and that’s what I think the Leafs are doing.
It may feel like this team has taken 1000 steps back over the years, but trust the process. Good times are on their way and one of these 10 players could be a future Stanley Cup champion winner with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
No. 10: Travis Zajac
The 36-year-old centre has been a bright spot for the New York Islanders during their current Stanley Cup run. He doesn’t contribute much offensively, but his veteran IQ and defensive ability is something that has fit Barry Trotz’ system.
Zajac is coming off a contract that paid him $5.875M and there’s no way he’s getting any figure close to that again in free agency. Based on his age and lack of production, he should be happy with signing a contract worth no more than $2M per year, and that even seems rich.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are not looking for a veteran to play 20 minutes per night and contribute much offensively. Instead, they could use someone to fill a gap and be defensively responsible, and potentially play penalty-kill minutes.
Zajac could be that person on the fourth-line, who works his tail off to help the Leafs win. During his tenure, he’s made the Stanley Cup Finals once, but has yet to win it. If he wins with the Islanders this year, he may be inclined to sign a league minimum in Long Island and run it back there, however, if they fall short, he may want to join a young team who can make the leap next year. Ie., Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto shouldn’t make Zajac their top priority but it could be worth exploring if the price is right.
No. 9: Marc Staal
Staal is a free agent for the first time since 2015 and continues to get underappreciated because of his contract and lack of offense.
At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, Staal has never been an offensive defenseman. He’s always been your typical stay-at-home player who was a pest to play against. Now that he’s a free agent and spent his last season with the Detroit Red Wings, you’d have to think that he would like one last chance at winning a Stanley Cup.
Staal lost the Stanley Cup Finals against the LA Kings in 2014 and hasn’t been back since. On a cheap contract, he’d be a great fit in Toronto.
If Staal were to sign a cheap contract in Toronto, he could change his narrative. Remember what people thought of Zach Bogosian two years ago? As a $5M player, he was a bum and should’ve been summoned to the AHL, some said, but as a $1M player, all of a sudden he was the best signing in hockey and an unbelievable value.
By signing a discount deal with Toronto, or any other team, Staal would be that “diamond in the rough” signing and could extend his career for a few more seasons.
If Bogosian doesn’t re-sign in Toronto, Staal should be a priority for the Leafs.
No. 8: Derick Brassard
Having played on five different teams in the past two seasons, Brassard is a little bit of a suitcase.
However, on a league minimum contract, he could be that nice fit on the fourth-line. Jason Spezza turned back the clock when he joined Toronto two seasons ago, so with any veteran jumping into the fountain of youth (aka: Leafs), there’s hope that he could do the same.
The 33-year-old can play centre or left-wing and is coming off a $1M deal. After a pretty disappointing year in Arizona, a team could probably sign him for closer to $750K.
For the majority of his career, Brassard would score between 15-25 goals per year and be a good contributor as a second or third-line centre. However, the one real reason why the Leafs may want to target him is because of his playoff experience.
During his tenure, Brassard has played in 118 playoff games, scoring 25 goals and 68 points (stats: capfriendly.com). With two Conference Finals and one Stanley Cup Finals under his belt, he’s been very close to the finish line, without having got it done.
As such, that hunger could still be burning inside of him to join a contending roster and get one last chance at winning a Stanley Cup.
No. 7: Eric Staal
With seven points in 10 playoff games, Staal has been a great contributor for the Montreal Canadiens thus far. Although, we don’t like to talk highly of that team on this website, the Canadiens deserve credit for taking a chance on Staal and playing so well in the playoffs.
After winning a Stanley Cup in his second NHL season, Staal has yet to do it again. Although it’s been 15 years since winning, that memory doesn’t go away so any added veteran who’s won a ring is important to the roster.
As a former captain in the NHL, that extra leadership would be very vital to Toronto’s roster as they’ve yet to get past the first round since 2004. The “old-timer’s” they brought in last year clearly didn’t do the trick to motivate the young roster to win, but Staal may be that player who could help instead.
If Toronto signed Staal, I’d expect his play to get back to normal, similarly to Jason Spezza and I could see him helping out on the power-play, even at 36-years-old.
Although it doesn’t happen a ton, it would be great to see a Montreal Canadiens player jump provinces and join the rival Leafs.
No. 6: Jaroslav Halak
The Toronto Maple Leafs need to sign a back-up goalie, who can be a sounding-board for Jack Campbell and someone who’s not gunning for his job.
Insert, Jaroslav Halak.
The 38-year-old has played in over 500 NHL games and is bound to retire in the next year or two. Despite his age, his game hasn’t declined much over the past few years.
His stats weren’t amazing this year, but they were still fine for a back-up. Halak posted a 2.52 GAA and .909 SV%, which would be great numbers in Toronto, especially with the offense in front of him.
Toronto needs to figure out if Jack Campbell can be “the man” during an 82-game season and they don’t need anyone who’s going to take that away from him. At Halak’s age, he would be perfectly fitted playing 25-30 games, with Campbell taking the rest.
The tandem of Halak and Rask were brilliant in Boston, so hopefully that would continue if he joined the Leafs this offseason.
No. 5: Jason Spezza
This should be the No. 1 selection, but that would be way too obvious. Jason Spezza is 99.9 percent returning to the Toronto Maple Leafs and I don’t think he’s retiring until this team wins a Stanley Cup.
Besides William Nylander, Spezza was the most consistent forward with the Leafs during the playoffs. Although it’s great to see him perform so highly, he shouldn’t have been one of the team’s top players.
Spezza gave the team everything he had, but the star players couldn’t help him out. He did his part tremendously well, and the Leafs should have advanced in the first round because of it. Instead, their season was cut short, as they now watch the Montreal Canadiens enter the Final Four.
Over the past two seasons, Spezza’s game has aged like fine-wine, but one of these years that’s bound to stop.
However, the Leafs should continue to re-sign him until that happens because his $700K contract is one of the best deals in hockey right now.
No. 4: Corey Perry
The Toronto Maple Leafs should have signed Perry last season, instead of Wayne Simmonds and they’re unfortunately paying the price for it right now.
No offense to Simmonds, who I love, and loved the signing, but Perry is a playoff-performer and that’s exactly what the Leafs needed. After helping the Dallas Stars reach the Stanley Cup Finals last year, there weren’t a lot of people convinced that he could do it again.
However, as we sit right now, Perry is still in the playoffs, while our beloved Leafs are not.
Even if Perry isn’t scoring, he’s a pest to play against. He’s someone you want on your team but hate to play against and he’s proven that once again this playoff-run.
If you’re thinking that Perry hit John Tavares on purpose during Game One of the first round, he didn’t. They’re friends and that’s something no player would ever intend to do. As a result, he should forgive Tavares by signing with Toronto in the offseason and help them win a Stanley Cup for the first time in 55 years.
No. 3: Alex Goligoski
The Toronto Maple Leafs left-side of their defense is set nicely with Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and Rasmus Sandin, but Goligoski could be a better fit as the third-pairing defenseman than Sandin.
This wouldn’t take Sandin out of the lineup, but instead, he could play the right-side, which is something he’s done in the past. Sandin proved that he deserves to be an everyday NHLer, but also showed his rookie mistakes. As a result, playing the right-side with another veteran could be beneficial.
Although Goligoski is aging, one of the reasons he could be a great fit in Toronto is his powerplay ability. One of Goligoski’s biggest strengths is running a powerplay, as he once scored seven PP goals in a single season. (stats: hockeyreference.com)
Having played with the Arizona Coyotes for a few years, Goligoski has yet to have the same talent that he did during his prime with the Pittsburgh Penguins. If he were to join the Leafs, he could be a great threat at the point and someone who could help move the puck around to create offense.
You wouldn’t want Goligoski to play much more than 12-15 minutes per night, but his help on the powerplay could be worth signing him.
No. 2: Tyler Bozak
Selfishly, I would love to see a Bozak reunion, especially at $700K. After leaving Toronto, Bozak won a Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues, so he could use that experience to help lift a cup in Toronto.
For years, Bozak was the Leafs top-line centre and the pair of him and Phil Kessel were Toronto’s dynamic duo. Now that he doesn’t have to do the heavy-lifting, he could be a great player on the fourth-line.
Bozak clearly loved his time in Toronto. If it was up to him, he probably would have stayed here his entire career, but unfortunately due to cap reasons, the Leafs couldn’t afford to bring him back. It all worked out as Bozak got to lift a Stanley Cup, but you’d have to think, he’d love to return.
It’ll be interesting to see what type of money he’s asking for his offseason and if Toronto would want to sign him, but if he’s willing to sign a veteran league-minimum contract, I don’t see a reason why it wouldn’t make sense to reunite.
No. 1: Ryan Getzlaf
The 36-year-old centre from Regina, Saskatchewan hasn’t nothing left to prove and has all the money in the world, so why not sign a league-minimum deal to win a Stanley Cup in Toronto?
Getzlaf can still be an effective player on a very good team. He would essentially be everything that Leafs fans hoped Joe Thornton would be, if he did sign in Toronto. Throughout his entire career, he’s always been a great playmaker, so he’d be a welcomed addition to the Leafs powerplay, or someone who could help get youngster Nick Robertson involved.
Also, if Sheldon Keefe wanted to get Auston Matthews a second assist-man, Getzlaf could be a good fit for a few minutes a night beside him and Marner.
Getzlaf has made over $90M in career earnings, has won a Stanley Cup and gets to live in California every day. It’s unsure at whether or not he’d want to trade in the beach for the cold winter in Toronto, but if he still has a desire to win, the hockey capitol of the world could be a nice fit for him to end his career.
Every other big-name veteran has yet to get the job done in Toronto, but Getzlaf could be the guy to change the narrative.
Next. 4 Players Leafs Could Lose in Expansion Draft. dark
It’ll be interesting to see if any of these players on the list will be willing to take a pay-cut to join the Toronto Maple Leafs, but hopefully one of them do, and this team can finally get back to their winning days.