Toronto Maple Leafs: What Free Agents Will Be Back Next Year?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have 10 pending free agents heading into this offseason, but will any be back?

Fortunately (or unfortunately), the Toronto Maple Leafs core is in-tact for the next few seasons so the team doesn’t need to make big changes. However, there are a number of depth players that the team would love to re-sign.

Although this team never made it past the First Round, they had an unbelievable regular season and a lot of that has to do with the depth pieces. Pierre Engvall, Ilya Mikheyev, Ondrej Kase and Jason Spezza were solid contributors, but they all may be gone next season.

The four of them made around $4M total, all while scoring a combined 62 goals. That essentially means that 20 percent of the Leafs total goals came from four percent of the team’s salary, which is hard to believe.

In terms of value, you can’t really get any better than that, so that’ll be incredibly hard to replace, as all four of those players (minus Jason Spezza) will be looking for a pay-raise.

So let’s start with who’s coming back:

Who’s Returning to the Toronto Maple Leafs Next Year?

Ondrej Kase

I know that Kase revitalized his career in Toronto, but I still think there will be other teams who will be skeptical of his health. Although he scored 14 goals and registered 27 points in 50 games this year, he still missed 32 total games.

Despite missing that many games, I think the Leafs like his style of play and saw a lot of value in him. Kase is also very good friends with David Kampf, so wanting to play alongside him again may help him stay.

Timothy Liljegren

For some weird reason, fans still don’t like Liljegren and I don’t understand why. As a pending RFA, he’s 100 percent returning, similar to this next player.

Rasmus Sandin

Sandin and Liljegren are getting better with every season and they’ll both be top-four defenseman next year. Toronto’s defensive group is in a really good spot.

Jason Spezza

I’m convinced that Spezza won’t retire until he’s won a Stanley Cup with the Leafs. Whether that’s next year or in 12 years when he turns 50-years-old, Spezza is coming back for another ride.

The fourth time’s the charm, right?

Mark Giordano

Giordano loved his time here, despite losing in the First Round and he fit in perfectly. Toronto needs to bring him back, on a low salary, essentially playing the Jason Spezza role on defense.

Who’s Leaving the Leafs Next Year?

Ilya Mikheyev

It’s safe to assume that Mikheyev priced his way out of the Toronto Maple Leafs line-up. Teams will be lining up for the speedy 20-goal scorer, so although he was a great signing a few years ago, he’ll unfortunately be playing for another team next year.

Pierre Engvall

Similar to Mikheyev, Engvall’s price will be too much for Toronto to afford. Even if his contract is $2M, that’s too rich for the third or fourth line with the Leafs.

Colin Blackwell

Blackwell was very solid during his time in Toronto but I think the fourth-line centre position will be won by someone in-house, like Nick Abruzzese.

Ilya Lyubushkin

I really loved Lyubushkin and trading him for Nick Ritchie was an incredible move by Kyle Dubas. However, with Liljegren and Sandin ready for a next step, I don’t think they can afford him. The only way he stays is if the team is able to trade Justn Holl and/or Jake Muzzin.

Jack Campbell

This one stings to say but Campbell’s going to sign somewhere else for a lot of money and Toronto isn’t going to be able to afford him. Although it was a wonderful scenario for both parties, Toronto Maple Leafs fans won’t be screaming “Soup” next season.

Hopefully I’m wrong with a few of these, as it would be great to see Campbell back, but we’ll have to wait and see.