The Toronto Maple Leafs got off to a quick start in free-agency.
Before it was even the afternoon, the Toronto Maple Leafs had added Ilya Samsonov while losing Jack Campbell and Ilya Lyubushkin.
The Leafs were able to solve their goalie problems without taking up too much cap space. Matt Murray and his 4.68 million dollar cap hit doesn’t help fix this problem, but when you off-set him with the sub-2 million dollar contract Samsonov signed, it’s not too bad.
Pushing the goaltending discussion aside, the Leafs need to find free agents or reasonably signed players on the market to add into their fold. These players need to fill certain voids whether it’s the right side in the top-4, 2nd-line centre, 3rd-line grinders, 4th-line depth.
Toronto will have to plug these holes at some point if they are trying to get past a first-round and win a championship. Here are five reasonably priced options I think the Leafs should look to add come this fast-approaching offseason.
Toronto Maple Leafs Depth Options
PK Subban
Subban is almost done, however, you can’t hate on a former Norris Trophy winner whose been set back by a few environmental changes.
Subban while not his old self, stills possess a wicked one-timer which is something the Leafs haven’t had on their back end since the Dion era. I think Subban could be a great addition to the second powerplay unit and could have a resurgence on a pair with someone like a defensively responsible TJ Brodie. The beauty of all this is that Subban is a hometown boy and with the past seasons not being too great Dubas could snag up this defender for a bargain.
Nick Bjugstad
6’6 frame, 215lbs Bjugstad is a big boy that can create havoc in front of the opposing teams goal. While never having crazy offensive outputs, Bjugstad is a good back checking winger with size.
This is another guy the Leafs could grab on a bargain contract being between league minimum and a million and change. I think adding a forward like this into the third line fold could really be the start for a hard forechecking championship winner shutdown line.
I think the physicality of Bjugstad could really be a motivator for other lanky tall guys on the team like Engvall to get their game together.
Mason Marchment
Why not bring back someone Dubas traded away?
Marchment has bloomed into a tough top-9 forward that has style, size, physicality and a scoring touch. Although I don’t know how keen he’d be on returning to a team and GM that gave up on him. Second chances are a real thing and Mason should be giving Dubas one.
He’d be an excellent addition to any line in the bottom half of the line. He’s a swiss army knife like Kerfoot but with grit and size. Out of this list he’d be the priciest thus far, but Marchment would be worth it. Size and tenacity on a team that lacks those characteristics, better to start late than never.