All 16 Toronto Maple Leafs Pending Free Agent Predictions

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The Toronto Maple Leafs currently hold the rights to 16 pending free agents. Many were NHL regulars last season and some were looking for a fulltime shot at the NHL level.

Toronto Maple Leafs like Jack Campbell, Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren and Ilya Mikheyev could all potentially become available when free agency opens on July 13th.

There are a lot of questions around some of these potential free agents: Will they stay or will they go? Will the RFA’s get an offer sheet? Will they go to arbitration? Will they even receive a qualifying offer?

The Leafs, have long operated under the philosophy that you should only pay out big money to star players, while avoiding large cap hits to mid-range players.

This means that is especially interesting to see what they will do with players such as Mikheyev and Engvall, who have been great value on their cheap deals, but who may have priced themselves out of Toronto.

However, that isn’t guaranteed to be the case, because the Leafs have made exceptions to this rule for players who are have some upside, and I think both aforementioned players do.

Here are some predictions on who will stay and who will go.

Let’s see how many I can get right:

VANCOUVER, BC – APRIL 18: Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images) /

Toronto Maple Leafs Pending Free Agent Forwards

Brett Seney (UFA Group 6): Going. He played well enough in the AHL to garner interest from other teams. He’ll go to a team where he has a better chance at cracking an NHL roster.

Colin Blackwell (UFA): Going. Blackwell is most likely going to the team that pays him the most and the Leafs aren’t the team to make that kind of offer. My guess is Colin Blackwell signs with the Boston Bruins since he’d fit their style and he’s from Massachusetts.

Ondrej Kase (RFA with Arbitration): Staying. He played well enough while healthy to earn a new contract, but he was hurt enough to not cash in big. He’ll probably get a similar short term contract to last season. Worst case, an arbitrator awards him more than the Leafs want to pay and the Leafs walk, but I think he signs before arbitration.

Pierre Engvall (RFA with Arbitration): Staying. Engvall has earned a bit of a raise, but he should still fit within the Toronto Maple Leafs budget. Expect him to sign before arbitration.

Ilya Mikheyev (UFA): Going. Ilya Mikheyev has expressed that he wants a role bigger than what the Toronto Maple Leafs are willing to give him. He’ll go to a team where he’s assured a top six role and more salary.

Apr 14, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ilya Mikheyev (65) is greeted at the bench by defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin (46) Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

Toronto Maple Leafs Pending Free Agent Defensemen

Teemu Kivihalme (UFA): Going. He’s 26 and still not ready for the NHL. He’s not even an AHL regular. I think he goes back to Finland.

Chad Krys (RFA): Going. He’s 24 and hasn’t made an NHL push. There will be some new young defensemen joining the Marlies next season that the team should favour. I think he won’t get a qualifying offer as an RFA and will sign with another AHL team.

Joey Duszak (RFA with Arbitration): Going. He’s frustrated that he hasn’t gotten an NHL opportunity and maybe he’s right to feel that way. His situation reminds me of Jeremy Bracco’s a couple seasons ago. I think, like Bracco, he won’t get a qualifying offer, and he’ll sign somewhere else with more opportunity.

Kristians Rubins (RFA with Arbitration): Staying. The Toronto Maple Leafs like Rubins enough to keep him around. He may be close to getting more frequent play in the NHL and his RFA status restricts him enough to make it difficult to leave even if he wanted to.

Ilya Lyubushkin (UFA): Going. The Toronto Maple Leafs like Ilya Lyubushkin, but they’ll only want to keep him up to a specific price point. I think he’ll take an offer elsewhere that’s beyond Toronto’s budget.

Rasmus Sandin (RFA): Staying. He’s a young future star for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They wont let him go, but they also wont pay him for “future success” yet. Expect a short term bridge deal under $2 million AAV.

Timothy Liljegren (RFA): Staying. He’s in the same boat as Sandin. A short term bridge deal under $2 million AAV is most likely.

He and Sandin wont receive an offer sheet unless a team is sure the Leafs wont match which could be the $4,201,489 threshold where the Leafs would receive first and third round picks for compensation. It seems unlikely. (Info from Capfriendly).

May 6, 2022; Tampa, Florida, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell . Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Toronto Maple Leafs Pending Free Agent Goalies

Carter Hutton (UFA): Going. He’s a 36 year old goaltender who hasn’t been good for three seasons coming off a long term injury. I think he’ll retire.

Ian Scott (10.2 (c)): Going. My heart breaks for this kid, but he just can’t get health enough to play. Hopefully he makes a comeback, but the Leafs have too much minor league goaltending depth now to keep him around.

Michael Hutchinson (UFA): Going. He’s fallen behind Joseph Woll, Erik Kallgren and maybe even Keith Petruzzelli on the Marlies depth chart. He’s 32 and not getting any better. Another AHL team might take a chance on him, but he’s done in Toronto.

Jack Campbell (UFA): Going. Jack Campbell loves Toronto, but someone is going to make an offer beyond the Leafs budget. Being selected for the All-Star Game last season, may be enough for a team to justify paying him the $5.5 million AAV he’s asking for. The Leafs ceiling to sign him seems to be around $4 million.

Next. Buyout Candidates Leafs Might Sign. dark

I hope I’m wrong on some of these predictions. I hope the Toronto Maple Leafs can sign Jack Campbell, Ilya Mikheyev and Ilya Lyubushkin to reasonable contracts. However, there are many free agent fish in the sea, and I’m excited to see where everyone lands after the music stops on this free agent game of musical chairs.

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