Toronto Maple Leafs Full of Pleasant Surprises This Season

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 18: Pierre Engvall #47 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the New York Rangers during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on November 18, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Rangers 2-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 18: Pierre Engvall #47 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates against the New York Rangers during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on November 18, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Rangers 2-1. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Jun 22, 2018; Dallas, TX, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs entered the 2021-22 season with a few unknowns on their roster.

Fans weren’t sure what the Toronto Maple Leafs were getting with many of their depth players. For the most part, the depth players have been a pleasant surprise.

Many fans wondered why Toronto would sign a player like David Kampf for two years or sign the injury-plagued Ondrej Kase? They also wanted to know what management saw in Michael Bunting?

Add those questions to ones that fans had about depth players already on the team like Pierre Engvall and Ilya Mikheyev. There were a lot of unknowns at the start of the season, but not anymore.

Each of these players has been a pleasant surprise this season. All of them have exceeded expectations. The good news for Toronto is that out of this group, Mikheyev is the only one who is a UFA this off-season. The others are either signed for next season or are an RFA this off-season.