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Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 UFA Centres Who Could Replace Alex Kerfoot

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - MAY 27: Alexander Kerfoot #15 of the Toronto Maple Leafs heads up ice with the puck against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 27, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 27: Alexander Kerfoot #15 of the Toronto Maple Leafs heads up ice with the puck against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 27, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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DENVER, COLORADO – MARCH 18: Cale Makar #8 of the Colorado Avalanche . (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

No. 1: Nick Bonino

The 33-year-old centre is coming off a $4.1M cap-hit, which was well deserved at the time. Prior to signing a four-year deal with the Nashville Predators, he’d just won back-to-back Stanley Cup’s with the Pittsburgh Penguins and was a good piece for them.

In fact, during Pittsburgh’s championship in the 2015-16 season, Bonino finished third on the team in playoff scoring, right behind Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby (stats: hockeydb.com). Even though it was technically their third line, the “HBK Line” of Bonino, Kessel and Carl Hagelin ended up being the most important trio for the Penguins and a key reason why they won the championship.

Although Bonino is a few years removed from those magical days in Pittsburgh, his game is still productive. Even in a shortened 55-game season, he scored 10 goals on a low-scoring Minnesota Wild team, which ranked him seventh on the roster.

As shown by those days on the “HBK Line” Bonino has no issue playing with fast-skating players. Toronto’s team is filled with quickness, so he’d pair especially well beside someone like Ilya Mikheyev, who’s very speedy.

After experiencing success in Pittsburgh, it may be easy to convince Bonino to come to Toronto to replicate what he did with the Penguins. Also, based on his age and the salary cap staying flat, you’d probably be able to sign him for something between $2-3M, which would be a great addition.

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