Should The Toronto Maple Leafs Re-sign Any of Their Unrestricted Free Agents?
What Are the Leafs Options at Forward?
Signing both Domi and Bertuzzi is unrealistic. It would be a foolish use of resources by Leafs management.
One possible option is to re-sign one and let the other leave. Domi has positional flexibility by playing both center and wing, however, he is one-dimensional. He is a defensive liability and doesn't kill penalties. He plays mostly on the second power-play unit, usually in thirty-second chunks.
Craig Berube's desire for a "North, fast and heavy team" gives Bertuzzi an inside track to re-upping with the Leafs. Bertuzzi brings a net-front presence, heaviness, and an attacking forechecking mindset that fits Berube's style.
Domi's scrappiness and love of Toronto are appealing, but his production and defensive limitations don't warrant paying him $4-5 million annually on a multi-year deal.
Should Bertuzzi be offered $6 million plus on the open market or want that from the Maple Leafs, it is too much unless it's over a shorter term.
It is not critical that the Leafs sign either of them. They have depth at forward and could add a free agent for less money and shorter term while addressing the defense and goaltending.
Leafs Defense and Goaltending Need Reinforcements
The Toronto Maple Leafs unrestricted defensemen are a collection of bottom-of-the-depth chart players. None are capable of filling a top-four role on a contending team.
Edmundson, if he were signed to a short-term, third-pairing salary with a $2 million AAV, holds some value for his size, physical play, and penalty-killing.
The Leafs would be better off aiming bigger on the free-agent market. Brandon Montour, Chris Tanev, or Sean Walker would help balance the left-right combinations of defense pairings.
Montour should be the Leafs number-one target in free agency if he doesn't re-sign with the Florida Panthers and hits the open market. He is a legitimate top-four, puck-moving defenseman who would augment the Maple Leafs star forwards.
The Leafs have no high-end defense prospects in their system. They need to focus on adding two outside free agents, a puck mover like Montour and a defensive type such as Tanev. Adding those players would give the Leafs a formidable blue line, joining Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, Simon Benoit, and Timothy Liljegren (should he be retained).