Toronto Maple Leafs: Brendan Perlini An Ideal Buy Cheap Candidate

The Toronto Maple Leafs might have lightning strike twice, if they sign Brendan Perlini to a low-risk deal akin to Michael Bunting last summer.

With the Edmonton Oilers opting to allow Brendan Perlini to hit free agency, the Toronto Maple Leafs could swoop in with a cheap prove-yourself deal.

The British-born winger has some level of NHL experience with 81 points (50 goals and 31 assists) in 262 games, playing for the Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and most recently the Edmonton Oilers.

Worth considering too, the Perlini family has history with the Toronto Maple Leafs with Brendan’s father, Fred Perlini playing 8 games after being drafted by the organization in 1980.

Is Brendan Perlini Too Risky for the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Simply put, Brendan Perlini is worth the risk because he’s still relatively young and would arguably fit the line-up spot likely to be vacated by Ondrej Kase, at a cheaper cost.

That’s considerably less risk than Michael Bunting was for the Toronto Maple Leafs last summer; Burning had just 26 NHL games to his name before joining the team.

Now of course, there is the fact that Perlini cleared waivers last season and this in itself would suggest that maybe he’s not an appealing option for Kyle Dubas even with his cap hit of just $750,000 last term.

Perhaps the best reason to have a good look at Perlini is the fact he still is a player with as yet unmet potential in the NHL.

Now there’s every chance that he never lives up to the potential as a power forward that ultimately went 12th overall to the Arizona Coyotes in the 2014 Draft.

However, there is still the chance that working with the developmental staff in the Maple Leafs organisation allows him to shine as an arguably late bloomer and provide a little size to complement the Leafs’ skill.

The naysayers will point to his lack of physicality (he averaged just 1 hit per game last season), that you’d normally associate with a 6’3”, 211lb winger, but if Pierre Engvall teaches us anything, you can still hone that once playing in the NHL regularly.

There is plenty to like about Perlini, after all you don’t have 14, 17 and 12-goal seasons in the NHL without some level of big-league skill, even with the best line-mates.

Considering the Leafs might be able to ink a two-year deal that can easily be dumped in the minors at very low cost, Brendan Perlini offers enough to be worth pursuing.

Maybe it’s simply down to bad luck or the wrong teammates or perhaps there’s a bit more to his perplexing inability to meet his potential in the past few years.

There is indeed a risk attached to signing him; Nick Ritchie was the last power forward the Leafs gave a chance and we all recall how that played out. Perlini though would unlikely have anywhere near the same price tag.

Either way, this is a player that the Maple Leafs development team might very well be able to work their magic with. It’s low-risk but has big potential for high-reward.