3 Players the Toronto Maple Leafs Should Consider for a PTO

The Toronto Maple Leafs have spent poorly this summer, and subsequently are still over the salary cap.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have spent to the cap (as they shoudl) for almost half a decade now, and with that, filling out their team with “notable” depth players has been a necessity.

Hard to complain, however, since for the last four seasons they have been a Cup Contender, played .650 + hockey, and are have several times dressed what has (at the very least) been one of the NHL’s deepest teams.

One way they have been able to do this over the last little while has been by signing players to a Professional Tryout contract (PTO).

A PTO allows a player to participate in a team’s training camp. Once training camp concludes, the team can decide whether or not they want to sign the player.

If the player is signed, it is usually a one-year, league-minimum contract. The Toront Maple Leafs have utilized PTOs in the past.

One player who was signed off a PTO just last season was Zach Aston Reese. He was a steady fourth-line player for the Leafs, who contributed on the defensive side of the puck, earning him a spot on the Leafs penalty kill.

The signing of Aston Reese led to Nicholas Aube-Kebel being placed on waivers and later claimed by the Washington Capitals.

Aube Kebel had been signed early in the offseason and was expected to contribute in what ended up being Aston Reese’s role.

The switch saved the  Leafs $159,270 in cap space, which makes a difference when four of your players are taking up nearly half of the salary cap. (all stats hockeydb.com, all cap info from capfriendly.com).

So, are there any players that the Leafs could sign to PTOs ahead of training camp in September?