The Toronto Maple Leafs allowed multiple players to leave this summer after hitting free agency and all of them have ended up getting overpaid.
While it’s never fun to watch players walk away the Toronto Maple Leafs were correct in not opting to overpay their free agents.
On day one of free agency, the Leafs saw Ondrej Kase, Ilya Mikheyev, Jack Campbell and Ilya Lyubushkin all walk.
Based on the contracts each of these individuals signed elsewhere, the team was smart not to renew them. Other than Kase, they all signed contacts that were extreme overpays.
Toronto Maple Leafs Pumped Their Values Last Year
There’s little to suggest that any of the four names mentioned would’ve been able to command as much money at free agency if they weren’t playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs last season.
The team’s fourth-place overall finish pumped their tires such that they all got healthy raises when their contracts came due.
Take for example, Ilya Lyubushkin, a hard-hitting, right-side defenseman who was signed to a $1.35 million one-year contract by the Arizona Coyotes. After his trade to Toronto, 31 regular-season games and 7 playoff games, suddenly his value was significantly higher.
Indeed, the Buffalo Sabres inked a two-year deal costing them $2.75 million per season – a significant raise that only came about from being able to showcase himself as part of a more talented line-up.
Ondrej Kase is another case in point and realistically him going unqualified wasn’t because the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted rid of him necessarily. Rather it spoke to the risk of an overpay on a player with significant injury risks attached.
As a direct result of not qualifying him, the Leafs avoided the chance he could push for significantly more money via arbitration.
14 goals and 27 goals across 50 games certainly suggest that he’d have been due more than the $1.25 million qualifying offer, with the obvious caveat to that being how many games he missed due to concussion issues.
He signed on the opening day of free agency to another one-year deal for $1.5 million with the Carolina Hurricanes. Another chance to prove himself able to keep himself fit and healthy.
Given the Toronto Maple Leafs have been able to go out and get Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Adam Gaudette for just a little over Kase’s cap hit in Raleigh, it feels like the safer bet to have let him walk.
Moving on to Jack Campbell; this almost felt inevitable. Inking him until he’s 35 years-old, the Edmonton Oilers are taking a very significant risk.
Given the unpredictable nature of goalies, pay Campbell five million per season seems a tad high, but locking him up for five years seems crazy.
Finally, Ilya Mikheyev was the absolute known factor heading into this free agency period. The Toronto Maple Leafs knew he had far out-performed his previous two-year $1.645 million deal and a renewal wasn’t happening at any reasonable price-point.
Mikheyev offered plenty to the team on the penalty-kill and as a part of the third-line but there was zero chance that the Leafs would have offered anywhere near the 4-year $4.75 million per season deal that Vancouver did.
Again, this feels like an over-pay as Mikheyev’s inflated numbers last campaign feel more like they’re a reflection of playing on a fourth-place overall team than they are a true reflection on the individual. Cap information courtesy of CapFriendly.
While it’s never fun to see players walk without any assets coming back in return, the Toronto Maple Leafs have absolutely made smart choices in not over-paying any of those listed to stay.