Toronto Maple Leafs: Top 5 NHL Free Agency Signings for 2021
By Andrew Kogut
MIKE HOFFMAN- 3 years, $13.5 million (Montreal)
Mike Hoffman just doesn’t receive the credit he deserves.
He has quietly put up some pretty impressive numbers in his nearly ten-year NHL career, sporting an 82-game average of 28 goals and 60 points (all stats from hockey-reference.com). In 545 games played Hoffman has 189 goals and 395 points while not exactly seeing significant ice time (his career average time on ice is 16:43).
Granted, he’s primarily an offensive player and has some defensive deficiencies but Hoffman’s offense hasn’t dipped below a 20-goal, 50-point pace since 2013-2014, when he only played 25 games and was coming off of back-to-back seasons of three and one games played, respectively. His possession numbers are elite (favorable zone-starts notwithstanding) and he always provides a positive point share (45.9 career, 4.1 last year).
Hoffman, who turns 32 in November, should still provide some much-needed scoring on a Habs squad that has some good depth and youth but nobody who really fits the bill of a first-line scorer.
With no clauses in a contract that ends before Hoffman’s potential declining years (35+), Montreal picked up a high-quality player with little-to-medium risk at a good price.
Well done.