The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team on the right track.
With Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander just beginning their prime years, the Toronto Maple Leafs – terrible playoff collapse aside – are a team well positioned to compete for and likely win the Stanley Cup over the next several years.
To augment their stars the Leafs have Nick Robertson, Rasmus Sandin and Rodion Amirov in the pipeline. They’ve got several high ceiling long-shots, and are in great position because they don’t have any long-term commitments to bad players.
To top this off, the incredible crazy action that has kicked off the NHL offseason shows that the Toronto Maple Leafs are clearly one of the best managed teams in the league.
Now, thanks to two more unforced errors by rival teams, the Leafs have a chance to get two solid players at a discount.
2 Non Qualified Players for the Toronto Maple Leafs to Sign
For reasons that make about as much sense as making a nine year commitment to Seth Jones, the Blackhawks did not qualify quality 25 year-old forward Pius Suter.
OK let's run through some of the most interesting players who weren't tendered a qualifying offer and will therefore become UFA
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 26, 2021
Like Pius Suter, a 25 year old who played second line minutes with good two-way results and production rates. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/bgygnpYySo
Coming off a solid 27 points in 55 games, Suter is now an unrestricted Free Agent. For a cheap option that will come with some ceiling, the Leafs would be hard pressed to find a better signing on Wednesday than Suter.
Another excellent candidate for the Leafs is Odrej Kase, a 25 year old winger who barely played this past year. Back when he was healthy, he was considered a strong up and coming player, and the Bruins acquired him at the trade deadline before the Pandemic in 2020. They paid a first round pick for a combination of Kase and getting out of 75% of David Backe’s contract.
Kase was not qualified because who knows how he will recovered from injury, but for a team that isn’t required to give him a raise in order to retain his rights, Kase is a much more valuable commodity. There wouldn’t be much risk to the Leafs if they could give him some guaranteed money and put him on the IR if he doesn’t pan out.
Both of these players are the sorts of quality middle-of-the-lineup types that are literally always available in the NHL for free. Their existence completely justifies the Leafs belief in paying big money for stars and keeping the rest of the roster cheap by comparison.
Kase and Suter represent easy value, and are the type of players you can load up on with no risk and look great when you eventually hit on one. Hopefully the Toronto Maple Leafs sign one or both of these players.