4 Restricted Free Agents the Toronto Maple Leafs Could Sign

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking to fill out their roster with valuable players on great deals.  One method that worked for them last offseason was to sign restricted free agents that weren’t given qualifying offers by their previous team.

NHL teams have until July 11th to either sign their RFA’s or tender them a qualifying offer.  If a qualifying offer isn’t given, the player will become an unrestricted free agent on July 13th.

Last offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Ondrej Kase, David Kampf, Nick Ritchie and Michael Amadio after they were left without qualifying offers from their previous NHL teams.  Joseph Blandisi, Jack Kopacka and Marc Michaelis were signed to Toronto Marlies contracts and Evan Cormier was given a professional try-out at training camp.

The Toronto Maple Leafs also left a couple players unqualified last year: Nic Petan who sign with the Vancouver Canucks and Veini Vehvilainen who signed in Sweden.

Potential Unqualified RFA’s the Toronto Maple Leafs Could Sign

Players can be left unqualified for many reasons.  Obviously, the team could just not see the player making their roster, but cap issues, the amount to qualify them or a general falling out could also be among the reasons. (Stats hockeyreference.com , cap info from CapFriendly)

Here are four players that I could see being left unqualified that the Toronto Maple Leaf might be able to sign to great deal:

#4 Luke Kunin

Team: Nashville Predators
Age: 24
Position: Right Wing, Centre
2021-22 Stats: 82 games, 13 goals, 22 points, 223 hits
Qualifying Offer: $2.3 million
Potential: Bottom six forward on Toronto Maple Leafs

If the Nashville Predators end up resigning Filip Forsberg, they may not have enough in their budget for Luke Kunin and his $2.3 million qualifying offer.

Kunin is a former 1st round draft pick selected by the Minnesota Wild 15th overall in 2016.  He’s still young and plays a great physical and defensive game.

He would be a definite upgrade to Kyle Clifford or Wayne Simmonds on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Offensively, he’s had a couple decent seasons, but last year could be considered a disappoint.

He may not be worth $2.3 million right now but could be a valuable asset if he signs for less and/or has a bounce back season.

#3 Keegan Kolesar

Team: Vegas Golden Knights
Age: 25
Position: Right Wing, Centre
2021-22 Stats: 77 games, 7 goals, 24 points, 262 hits
Qualifying Offer: $787,500
Potential: Bottom six forward on Toronto Maple Leafs

The Vegas Golden Knights may have the most concerning cap situation in the NHL.  Right now, they’re projected to be $200,000 over the salary cap with only 17 NHL players under contract.

One casualty of their cap dilemma may be Keegan Kolesar, especially with RFA’s Nicolas Roy and Nicolas Hague and UFA’s Reilly Smith and Mattias Janmark still unsigned.

Kolesar plays a similar game to Luke Kunin, but is less proven and doesn’t have the prestige of being a former 1st round pick.  However, he would most likely sign at a much more affordable price (maybe even half of what Kunin would demand).

#2 Brett Howden

Team: Vegas Golden Knights
Age: 24
Position: Centre
2021-22 Stats: 47 games, 9 goals, 20 points, 108 hits
Qualifying Offer: $929,250
Potential: Third line centre on Toronto Maple Leafs

Another victim of the Vegas cap crunch may be Brett Howden.  Having missed the last 15 games of the season with an upper body injury may not help his cause in Vegas either.

Howden was drafted in the 1st round (27th overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning.  He played three seasons with the New York Rangers and was great during first season with the Golden Knights before his injury.

Brett Howden would be a great third line centre for the Toronto Maple Leafs.  He’s developed an excellent two-way game.  He could bring more offense to the Leafs third line without sacrificing anything defensively.

There’s no reason to believe he won’t bounce back from his injury, but his price tag would likely stay pretty low on the open market because of it.  The Leafs seem to gravitate toward players like this who seem close to a break out after a little more development.