Is it Time to Panic in Leaf Land?

Free Agent Frenzy has come and gone, and the Maple Leafs had themselves a decently busy day, GM Kyle Dubas agreed to some signings that will help the bottom six, but none that will make a huge impact on the team. The Maple Leafs also saw a handful of players leave to sign with new teams, and that left some fans in pure confusion as to why they didn’t attempt to sign some of the players who walked out the door. After Kyle Dubas met with the media in the late afternoon some people were asking the question, “did the Maple Leafs get worse” after seeing what the team did in terms of signing players. Although there is still time to sign players because Free Agency isn’t just a one-day thing, the real question is, is it time to panic in Leaf Land?

Let’s start by breaking down the players who signed with the team versus the players who departed and signed with other NHL clubs.

Signed:

Nicolas Aube-Kubel: 1 year x $1,000,000

The 26-year-old is a Stanley Cup winner and had 11 goals, and 12 assists for 23 points in 74 games. Aube-Kubel is expected to be used in a similar role to Ilya Mikheyev.

Adam Gaudette: 1 year x $750,000

The 25-year-old is a depth player in every sense of the term, he totalled 5 goals and 9 assists for 14 points in 58 games last year. Gaudette is a good depth forward who can play the wing and down the middle, he will have to work for his spot on the team but can be a good bottom six player this season.

Denis Malgin: 1 year x $750,000

The 25-year-old was loaned to the Swiss League where he played for two seasons, last season he scored 21 goals and 31 assists for 52 points in 48 games. Many were not too excited about this signing, but he is a 25-year-old player with 200 games of experience under his belt. Albeit the experience is not just NHL, he can still be a player to compete for a spot and score 20+ points.

Ilya Samsonov: 1 year x $1,800,000

The 25-year-old shared the crease with Washington’s other goalie last season, he appeared in 44 games and won 23 of them, he also had a 3.02 GAA and a.896 SV%. Samsonov was once projected to be the next best thing in the net for Washington, however, he hasn’t developed fully into that projection. He can be a low-risk, high-reward player for the Maple Leafs and could eventually find himself as the goalie of the future for Toronto.

Signed Elsewhere:

Ondrej Kase: 1 year x $1,500,000 – Carolina Hurricanes

Sadly, Ondrej Kase has decided to move on from the Leafs and sign with the Hurricanes, after not receiving a qualifying offer. However, it was reported that the Maple Leafs did offer him the same deal as the Hurricanes, but Kase decided that he would move on.

Colin Blackwell: 2 years x $1,200,000 per – Chicago Blackhawks

This signing shocked me, Blackwell was a good depth player for the Maple Leafs in his short time with the club, and with the loss of some other players, I figured he would have a bigger role. Unfortunately, he signed with the Blackhawks and could be moved at the deadline to provide Chicago with more draft capital as they go through their rebuild.

Ilya Mikheyev: 4 years x $4.750,000 per – Vancouver Canucks

A fan favourite that has priced himself out of town has now found a new home in Vancouver. There was an expectation that Vancouver was hoping to add some middle-tier and depth players and signing Mikheyev provides them with that. It looks like he could slide into their top six and be an impact player.

Ilya Lyubushkin: 1 year x $2.750,000 – Buffalo Sabres

This is the one that didn’t make sense to me, a right-handed defenceman who played on their top pairing with their best defender and found success, and doesn’t re-sign with the club. Not only is Toronto losing a true fan favourite, but they are also losing their most physical defender, who wasn’t shy to get into the corners or clear the net. However, with Buffalo signing him to a 1-year deal, the Maple Leafs could try for him at the deadline.

Jack Campbell: 5 years x $5,000,000 – Edmonton Oilers

Souuup, is on the move, Jack Campbell has signed himself a big-time deal with the Edmonton Oilers and will be the guy between the pipes for them. It was rumoured that it was the term that was the difference between Campbell’s camp and the Maple Leafs. The Leafs didn’t want to sign him for anything over three years and for that, he walks to another team who has been slowly filling up on ex-Maple Leafs players. With this signing, the Edmonton Oilers have now become the favourite for all the Canadian teams to find success next season.

Key Targets for the Leafs to look at:

- Dmitrij Jaskin – 29-year-old depth forward

- Dylan Strome – 25-year-old top 9 forward

- Calle Järnkrok – 30-year-old versatile top 9 forward

- Zach Ashton-Reese – 27-year-old depth forward

- Sonny Milano – 26-year-old top 9 forward

- Victor Mete – 24-year-old depth defender (plays both sides)

- Sam Gagner – 32-year-old depth forward

- Brendan Perlini – 26-year-old depth forward (2-way)

- Michael Del Zotto – 32-year-old depth defence (7th-8th D)

Now back to the question from above, it is truly time to panic in Toronto?

Although the future looks bleak, I would say, no it is not time to panic. Toronto has time to make some other moves and fill out their roster a bit more and still maintain their spot as a contender. I believe that Dubas and company will make a few more moves to shore up some other issues and that has to start with their bottom six and adding another piece and solving the problem on their backend. Dubas had said today that he wants Sandin to play on the left side and is still in the market for a right-handed shot who plays physically, which may indicate that there is a defenceman or two potentially on the move.