Toronto Maple Leafs: A Contract Hold-Out Only Hurts Rasmus Sandin

The Toronto Maple Leafs still haven’t managed to get restricted free agent defenseman Rasmus Sandin signed to a contract extension, with any hold-out only really hurting the player.

After all, the Toronto Maple Leafs already have a full quota of defensemen on the left side, so Rasmus Sandin is the extra man and could very well start the year (pending a contract) as the seventh defenseman.

This is fundamentally at the heart of why Rasmus Sandin may be holding out, but isn’t something that will be fixed by such a hold out.

In fact, with Jordie Benn and Victor Mete added as depth signings, it’s possible that even if one of the Leafs regular left-side defensemen get injured and Sandin then inks a deal, he might very well be on the outside looking in as he likely would have some level of rustiness to his game.

Toronto Maple Leafs Won’t Be In Any Real Hurry To Sign Sandin

Frankly, Rasmus Sandin is nice to have, and is likely a major part of this team’s future.

His numbers, prior to his knee injury, were very, very good last year, and he is only going to get better.  Unfortunately, the Leafs and Sandin are unlikely to get a deal done until the team clears a path for him to play.

Do they plan on doing that?  It doesn’t currently appear like they are, but who knows?

The tactic of holding out has previously been used on the Toronto Maple Leafs, namely with William Nylander, who shares Sandin’s agent, Lewis Gross. Clearly, there’s a common thread there, although realistically, almost any agent is going to have a client who has sat out previously.

Like William Nylander, the negotiations are complicated by the fact that the player in question is trying to get paid for what he likely will do, as opposed to what he has done so far.

Sitting out only really works when the team is truly going to miss you and while  Sandin brings value, the Leafs do have eight other NHL quality defenders on their roster.

It doesn’t bode well for sitting out, as other players will be out to stake their claim to a Toronto Maple Leafs roster spot once training camp gets underway. From there, any sit-out will have to work incredibly hard to get there fitness ready for the rigors of the NHL regular season.

As such, regardless of whether he values a specific role with the team or feels he deserves a specific salary, Rasmus Sandin is going to cause himself plenty of issues by not playing ball.

The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t seem likely to be going down the path of overpaying, so it really comes down to what Sandin values most; if he wants a chance at ice-time, he may need to sign a bridge deal below his perceived value for a year and prove himself worthy of more.

Holding out works on occasion, but this time simply put I can’t see it strong-arming Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs into any sort of over-pay. It’s all up to Rasmus Sandin now as to what he truly wants.