Leafs Sign Zach Aston-Reese to PTO

Photo From TSN

For the first time since July 15^th when the Leafs signed Calle Jarnkrok, WE FINALLY HAVE SOME LEAFS NEWS!!! This afternoon the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that the team had signed Staten Island native Zach Aston Reese to a Professional Tryout Offer, now for those of you who may be wondering what that means, it’s basically an invite to training camp and then Zach will then try and earn a spot in the organization for the upcoming regular season. Honestly, for me this announcement isn’t really a surprise because the two parties have been linked together for pretty much the entire offseason. Last year Zach split his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Anaheim Ducks where he collected fifteen points in in sixty-nine appearances but point totals shouldn’t be the focus because Reese’s game is one that will bring more grit and toughness into a lineup because he finished the season with 231 total hits and when you weigh 204 pounds and you stand six feet tall it's not hard to see that playing physical is a strength in the game of Zach Aston Reese.

As we know the Leafs are currently 1.4 million dollars over the salary cap and although the Aston-Reese signing is a tryout I would be very surprised if they didn’t work out a deal with training camp opening on the 21^st. The price tag that Zach will agree too if there is a deal, I am guessing it would probably be in the range of $800,000-850,000 league minimum in a sense which is fine, but the question is who do the Leafs move out or send down to free up enough space to fit Zach’s potential deal.  The obvious name at the top of every Leaf fans list is Alex Kerfoot whose cap hit is 3.5 million but even though Leaf fans have seemingly packed Alex’s bags and shipped him out of town I wouldn’t be surprised if Kyle Dubas throws a curveball and moves a player or players out that we fans didn’t expect. No, I’m not saying Kyle makes a blockbuster trade moving out one of the core four because as much as the “experts” at TSN are praying Nylander is moved so Craig Button or Darren Dredger can finally say “I predicted that” let me tell you now the core four will remain members of the Maple Leafs so lets please finally put a stop to the trade Nylander talk.

Leaf fans really need to start looking at the forward group near the bottom of the depth chart, look towards someone like Kyle Clifford who I think is likely going to end up in the AHL with the Marlies, but his salary comes in at $762,500. If he goes to the minors that leaves the team still sitting at $730,616 over the cap. So, if we continue to look at the bottom forward group you can look towards Joey Anderson and Adam Gaudette who both carry a price tag of $750,000, 1.5 million dollars total if those two are sent down that would give the Leafs close to $800,000 in breathing room, it’s nice but not quite enough because there’s the unsigned defenseman Rasmus Sandin still searching for a contract. Although currently the two side can’t agree on a contract you need to plan as if you are going to eventually work out a deal and $769,384 isn’t going to cut it.

Now, we look at the teams defensive group and again I know everyone including myself want to see Justin Holl moved to get rid of his two million dollar price tag but with Sandin unsigned I fully expect Holl to remain a Maple Leaf come opening night simply because of the level of comfort and familiarity that Dubas and Keefe have with Justin so I would look at Jordie Benn and Victor Mette, combined they are worth one million dollars if they go down to the Marlies and that will give the team $1,769,384 in space, again it’s not great but it’s better and it is enough room to sign Aston-Reese to a low price. Thankfully as fans our role with this team is to speculate as to what Kyle Dubas is going to do we don’t have to worry about crunching all the numbers to make the math work but I have said it before and I will say it again I trust that Kyle will do what he feels is right in order to build the best possible team that will hopefully end their playoff struggles, but I think adding Zach Aston-Reese is a great move by the Leafs front office and I think in the coming days business will pick up and we will here more and more news coming from Leaf land.

 

Before I wrap this one up as I am sure many are aware the world lost an important person to this country and its history, someone who was well known and well respected all over the world. Queen Elizabeth II sadly passed away at the age of 96 after serving as Queen of the United Kingdom and the members of the Commonwealth for 70 years. For many of us she was the only Queen we knew and if you shared an interest in the Royal Family then everything, she did was newsworthy to her many supporters. Our parents grew up going to school hearing God save the Queen, theirs and our generation grew up with Queen Elizabeth on our $20 bills and now with her passing it will maybe seem strange at first see her son Charles, now known as King Charles III, lead a new Monarch. It will take time for everyone to adjust to seeing Charles as King, but it is a change that followers knew would happen eventually and over time we will adjust and follow along with the new head of state. I often have difficulty coming up with something to say in situations like this all I can say is simply thank you for being Canada’s Queen for 70 years you will be missed by so many people.

 

Thanks to everyone for reading Leafs training camp is just two weeks away.