Toronto Maple Leafs Could Bring Back Their Top 2 Scorers From 2013-15

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the middle of their run through the home stretch of the regular season, preparing for the postseason. While the players focus on the task at hand, management needs to be thinking ahead.

There is going to be a lot of players available on the free agent market once it opens on July 1. The Toronto Maple Leafs have the opportunity to appeal to their fans nostalgia thanks to two players who will be looking for new contracts.

Leafs alumni Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk both have a chance of making their way back to Toronto after multi-year absences.

For back-to-back seasons, in 2013-14 and 2014-15, the duo led the franchise in points. 2015 would be the pair’s final season together. Both men played a full complement of 82 games. Over than span, Kessel was the team’s leader with 61 points on 25 goals and 36 assists. Van Riemsdyk wasn’t far behind. He registered 27 goals and 29 assists for 56 total points.

Ex Toronto Maple Leafs Could Return: Phil Kessel

For Kessel, that season was his first under a new contract with the Buds; it would also be his final campaign with them. GM Dave Nonis had signed the the sniper to an eight-year deal with an annual cap hit of $8 million. The contract was part of his undoing with the organization.

Kessel was in Toronto for six years. For every single one of those seasons, he was the franchise leader in points. When it was clear that the team wasn’t headed for success, they decided to rebuild. Kessel was shipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins in what was one of the Toronto Maple Leafs biggest deals of the decade.

The right-winger won two Stanley Cups with the Pens before he was moved to the Arizona Coyotes. Prior to the start of this current campaign, Kessel inked a one-year pact with the Vegas Golden Knights. In 74 contests, he’s put up 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 points.

Kessel has been productive in Vegas on a very affordable deal. He’s currently earning a $1.5 million AAV. If the Toronto Maple Leafs and Kessel were able to find a way to have their interests align, it is possible that they could bring them back.

James van Riemsdyk

The Leafs history with van Riemsdyk is an interesting one since they’ve recently acquired Luke Schenn. That’s because In order for the Toronto Maple Leafs to bring the big left-winger into the organization, they had to ship Schenn to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Van Riemsdyk played six season for the Leafs. He was known as a steady contributor around the net. When time ran out on his deal with Toronto, van Riemsdyk returned to the only other NHL club he’s ever known.

This season with the Flyers, van Riemsdyk has collected 26 points in 52 games. He’s done that with 10 goals and 16 assists. Unlike with Kessel, van Riemsdyk isn’t providing his scoring on the cheap. It’s costing the Flyers $7 million for the season.

There’s no doubt that van Riemsdyk is now worth nowhere near that level of compensation. At age 33, he still has hockey left to play. It would be interesting to see it played in Toronto next to a top talent like John Tavares, Mitch Marner, or Auston Matthews.

With the Leafs having a number of contracts expiring at the end of the season, they will need to make some important decisions. Perhaps that could include bringing back one or the pair of familiar faces.