Toronto Maple Leafs Free Agents: Who Should Sign, Who Should Walk?

TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 18: Timothy Liljegren #37 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates in his 1st NHL game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Arena on January 18, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blackhawks defeated the Maple Leafs 6-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 18: Timothy Liljegren #37 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates in his 1st NHL game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Arena on January 18, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blackhawks defeated the Maple Leafs 6-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
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Toronto Maple Leafs
Timothy Liljegren (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Toronto Maple Leafs Restricted Free Agents of 2022

According to Cap Friendly, the Toronto Maple Leafs have eight free-agents on their roster right now.  These are split evenly between restricted free-agents (the player can only sign with the Leafs unless traded or given an “offer sheet” from another team which essentially forces a trade) and unrestricted free-agents (players who can sign with any team).

Restricted Free Agents:

Pierre Engvall – the Leafs should definitely sign Engvall, who has a great combination of skill, size and defensive abilities. He was starting to scratch the surface of his potential this past year, and he still shouldn’t cost too much.

I would sign Engvall to as many years as he would go at $1.5, but I would not pay more for this player.

Ondrej Kase –  He’s super talented but really prone to injury.  I’d sign him just for the upside, but not with any expectations that he’d end up helping too much.   Give him the same contract he had last year and everyone can be happy.   As good as he is when healthy, you can’t rely on him so no reason to give him any term or money.

Timothy Liljegren –  Eventually he’s going to earn a huge contract, so if any kind of term you can get from him is going to save you some big money down the road. I think he’d be a good candidate to overpay in the short-term so you can have him really cheap down the road.

$4 million for eight years?  If not, expect him to sign for $1.5 to $2.5 for three or less years.

Rasmus Sandin – The same exact situation, only he has arbitration rights and will get an extra 500K even though he’s the second best out of the two.