3 Players Toronto Maple Leafs Must Re-Sign This Offseason

No. 3: Ilya Lyubushkin

Lyubushkin and the Leafs are the perfect fit and his presense always seems to make Morgan Rielly better, which is hard to do.

Over the past few years, Rielly has struggled to find a reliable defensive partner, but Lyubushkin has seemed to do that job great in his two duties in Toronto.

Lyubushkin does everything you want out of your defenseman in the playoffs. He hits, blocks shots and most importantly isn't on the ice for opponents goals, as he finished with a plus-four rating in seven games against Boston. I know plus/minus is a dumb statistic but it is a nice tool to show in a small sample size in the playoffs.

Although I think that the Leafs should re-sign Lyubushkin, it will come down to price. If he's looking at a contract over $3M AAV, then I'm going to have to pass.

Lyubushkin is a nice piece to re-sign but he's not going to make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. But he's tough and a decent bottom-pairing option.

He makes sense at a cheap contract, but the team should not make a large investment in Lyubushkin, as that would be bad salary-cap management.