The Toronto Maple Leafs are scouring both the free agent and trade markets to try and improve their scoring depth. One Toronto-born free agent target that they had reportedly rejected the Leafs' attempt to sign him because he didn't want to face the pressure of playing for his hometown team.
Andrew Mangiapane, before he signed a two-year contract with a $3.6-million AAV with the Edmonton Oilers, apparently had the Maple Leafs knocking on his door. But according to Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos, he didn't want to face the noise of being a Toronto-born Maple Leaf.
“[Andrew] Mangiapane is a Toronto kid, last I heard was he was maybe a little concerned about playing in this market as a local... It’s not for everybody.”@RealKyper, @jtbourne & @SamAMcKee discuss players’ perceptions of the Toronto market in free agency.#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/DvJyu1QZtt
— Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) July 3, 2025
"Mangiapane is a Toronto kid, last I heard was he was maybe a little concerned about playing in this market as a local. And then we have [Michael] Pezzetta, who is, like, giggling right now," said Kypreos.
Sam McKee jumped in, expanding on the obvious difference between the roles the players would have and the expectations that a player like Mangiapane and Pezzetta would have. And it is a salient point. Pezzetta, who signed a two-year deal with the Leafs earlier this week, is at-best a fourth-line player that would have the expectations to just not mess up and then maybe fight a couple times and go on a rant or two about how much he loves playing in front of the Toronto crowd through the season.
Mangiapane on the other hand, would come in, even as a third-line scoring threat, would be expected to pot in at least 15 goals and contribute at both ends of the ice -- the actual playing hockey part of playing hockey.
"We do know that Toronto, or even anywhere out west -- playing in a Canadian market is not for everybody. Brock Boeser, one of the reasons people in Vancouver are drawn to him is because he has a little bit of Nylander where 'nothing really bothers me. I'm going to try to shoot it in the net. If it doesn't go in the net, I get to try again tomorrow,'" Kypreos added.
There are players who just excel in Canadian markets and have the right attitude to either tune out the noise, or have it not bother them. Winning and playing well silences those critics, but of course there is always the concern of even having a bad week and you can be heckled by your supporters.
Mangiapane, apparently, didn't even want to come close to dealing with that and opted to go ride the coattails of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to scoring and easy 20 or so goals. That's fair.
The Maple Leafs will continue to look for options to add a top-six forward to their team but the options in free agency are drying up and they don't have many valuable trade assets remaining.