Toronto Maple Leafs Qualify Pierre Engvall and Rasmus Sandin

The Toronto Maple Leafs sent qualifying offers to Pierre Engvall and Rasmus Sandin on Monday. Players that did not receive a qualifying offer are Ondrej Kase, Chad Krys, Kristians Rubins, Joe Duszak, and Ian Scott. Those not qualified will now become unrestricted free agents.

The Toronto Maple Leafs now control  the rights to Engvall and Sandin, who are Group 2 free agents that can technically sign with anyone, but because they are not “unrestricted” the Leafs would have the option to match.
(Salary cap info from capfriendly.com)

Sandin has not signed yet, possibly due to the logjam on the left side of the Leafs blue-line.  Once there is more clarity in that regard, this will likely get solved quickly.

While  Sandin could sign an offer sheet, that remains an extremely remote possibility.  The Leafs aren’t likely to lose a 23 year old defenseman they’ve spend five years developing when he’s on the brink of success.

Signing Sandin is the most likely outcome, followed by the slight possibility of a trade.  There have only been two offer sheets in the NHL in the last decade, and they both involved Montreal and Carolina.  Not to say that it can’t happen, just that it is so unlikely that it probably isn’t affecting the way the Leafs approach the situation.

Toronto Maple Leafs Might Still be Interested in Ondrej Kase

Although the Toronto Maple Leafs did not give Kase a qualifying offer, they might still interested in seeing if they can sign him as an unrestricted free agent. As an RFA with arbitration rights, Toronto could not risk Kase filing for arbitration after receiving his qualifying offer. The arbitrator could have rewarded in Kase’s favor forcing Toronto to pay him what the arbitrator deems is fair or lose Kase to free agency.

By just allowing Kase to become a free agent, Toronto can try to negotiate a new deal for less than what an arbitrator might have rewarded. The Maple Leafs would like to sign him for close to the $1.25 million he made last season. If it so happens that Kase decides to sign with another team, it shouldn’t be too hard for Dubas to find a replacement.

I hope Dubas can find a way to sign Engvall and Sandin soon. The Toronto Maple Leafs GM has a busy off-season starting on Wednesday with the beginning of free agency. It will be interesting to see what this team looks like by the weekend.