Free Agency Recap: Day 1

 

Photo From Sporting News

So Free Agency opened yesterday and for the hockey-mad fan like me July 1 is an important day on the calendar but of course, before I go any further Happy Canada Day to my Canadian readers.

Toronto started their day off by signing Ryan Reaves to a three-year contract with an average annual value of 1.35 million dollars a season. Now, Leaf fans for the majority took the Craig Button approach and lost their minds. Do I think the price per year may be high? Maybe a little but overall, I am happy with this ad simply because Reaves brings a physical presence to the lineup for too long Leaf fans have been crying and wanting more toughness in the lineup the Leafs add a character guy like Ryan Reaves and they aren’t happy. Remember when Matt Martin was a Leaf? He was brought in to look after the core players he was being paid three million dollars a season and fans were happy with it. Ryan gets 1.35 and fans are mad. Now, Craig Button losing his mind over this signing yesterday on TSN and dumping on the Leafs not only continuing his yearly tradition but also showing why he’s been out of the NHL for over twenty years.  I think Ryan Reaves being in Toronto will make teams second-guess many things when they match up against Toronto. A perfect example of this is last year in the playoffs when Florida’s Sam Bennet injured Matthew Knies and took him out of the playoffs or when Radko Gudas flattened Michael Bunting. Florida wasn’t worried because there wasn’t going to be a response, but now if something happens to our players our opponent should be aware that retaliation is coming. Ryan last season split between the Rangers and Minnesota registered 196 hits and seven fighting majors and even provided a little bit of production by collecting 15 points but again Ryan was not brought in for his point production he was brought in for his physicality.

Brad Treliving then made a few depth signings adding Swedish defender William Lagesson. Lagesson, a 6-foot-2 defenseman spent last season with the Chicago Wolves as their Alternate Captain, and he would collect 32 points in 65 appearances finishing a plus 14. Lagesson will likely head straight to the Marlies and replace Victor Mette or Jordie Benn on the Marlies blueline because Toronto didn’t extend an offer to either Mette or Benn. Treliving’s second depth add was Maxime Lajoie who also spent last season with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves as their captain, but he would register 45 points in 63 games with 11 of those being goals. Lajoie would also pick up 45 minutes in penalties, so it seems like there is an agitating element to his game. Again, Max will likely spend much of the upcoming season in the AHL with the Marlies but will surely help by bringing production to their lineup. Both contracts carry a $775,000 value for this coming season.

The last major signing by Toronto yesterday I think caught people by surprise because Toronto was never mentioned with this player. John Klingberg joined the Maple Leafs on a one-year deal worth 4.15 million dollars. Klingberg was added because he provides scoring from the blue line, and the Leafs were desperate for that. Last season split between Anaheim and Minnesota Klingberg collected 33 points. I think you will see Klingberg om the second or maybe third pairing depending on if there are other moves to come from Toronto, but John will bring a boost in production for Toronto’s defense. Play in his end of the ice may be concerning at times but that can be said about literally every defender in this league if paired with the right D partner you can protect John which will only help the positives in his game excel and Klingberg is very good at moving the puck out of the D-zone allowing his team to counterattack their opponent quickly.

Toronto would end up losing some assets in free agency yesterday.

Luke Schenn and Ryan O’Reilly are now members of the Nashville Predators. Schenn signed a three-year deal worth 2.75 million a season. Good for Luke on getting paid but this was smart of Toronto to pass on. It was a lot of fun having Luke back in the blue and white but tying up almost three million dollars in a bottom-pairing defender whom people were saying likely won’t be an everyday player moving forward again it was smart to not sign Luke Schenn to that price tag. Ryan O’Reilly signed with Nashville for 4 years and a total of 18 million dollars over those four years. Again, I saw Leaf fans upset and wanting Treliving fired. I guess every Leaf fan forgot that O’Reilly was a rental from the beginning. In his 13 regular season appearances he collected 11 points. In the playoffs, he had 9 points in 11 games. Ryan brought a veteran presence to the Leaf room seeing as he won a cup in 2019 with St Louis but admittedly said he hoped he had done more in his time with the Leafs. Ryan would give an interview on TSN’s Overdrive where he called out Sheldon Keefe’s habit of switching line combinations in the playoffs and specifically the series against Florida. I’m sorry Ryan but in the Florida series Toronto couldn’t score so Sheldon was trying anything to find goals and keep the team’s playoff run alive that’s what you’re supposed to do as a head coach. Let me give you a little history lesson, the Leafs had a captain Mats Sundin, no he never won a cup in his career, but he was a damn good leader for this team, and he never called out his coach about his linemates and trust me Mats had some bizarre combinations to work with. He had guys like Jonas Hoglund or Lonny Bohonos or even Wade Belak who played defence just to name a few. Do you know what Mats did? He didn’t complain no he went to work for the team and still found ways to produce and help the Leafs win games. That’s the difference between good players and great players Ryan who deal with the situation at hand and if there is an issue then you handle it behind closed doors you damn sure don’t handle it publicly over the radio. So, enjoy your time in Nashville and collect your money but try not to criticize your coach when something doesn’t go your way.

The next player to change his address was Noel Acciari, he reunited with Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh signing a three-year deal worth 2 million dollars a season. I would have liked to have kept him in Toronto, but he wanted to go elsewhere and that’s fine he’ll bring physicality to the Penguins lineup, and I am sure fans will like him and his style.

Michael Bunting joined the Carolina on a three-year deal worth 4.5 million a year. It was reported that at no point during the season did Toronto show any interest in resigning Bunting. I think that was the right decision. Bunting in his first season as a Leaf which saw him become a mainstay on the first line collected 63 points. He even received some Rookie of the Year votes. Bunting followed it up with a completely different season. He became more of a distraction because every time there was a penalty called against him or not called in his favour he would complain. Did he occasionally have a case when appealing for a call? Sure, he did but if you’re always going to yell at the officials eventually, they’re going to tune you out, and that’s exactly what happened. When playing hockey at any level your coach will always tell you only to focus on what you can control. So, if you get tripped up and there’s no penalty even though there should be just get up and keep playing. Hopefully, Michael has a different attitude as a member of the Hurricanes because with the other additions made by them yesterday and with the names, they are linked to Bunting could be an important piece on a legitimate cup contender.  

Justin Holl was next to leave; he’ll stay in the division as a member of the Detroit Red Wings. He signed a 3-year contract with the Wings. Now I understand the numbers for Holl were positive when it comes to analytics having 18 points in 80 games with a +15 rating but there were times when he failed an important test, the eye test. There was a ten-game span at the start of last season, and it looked like he had it figured out. Justin was making smart plays, simple plays contributing at both ends of the rink, then November came, and it all went downhill. Justin is a defender who when pressured panics with the puck leading to drastic and costly turnovers. He’s a guy with absolutely no shot from the point. Wings fans there will be nights where Holl looks like a solid piece on the back end, and you’ll sit there thinking this was a nice addition by Steve Yzerman but trust me there will be more nights where you watch Justin Holl and ask yourself what he was trying to do there? Or what was he thinking?

Alex Kerfoot’s time as a Maple Leaf came to an end as he decided to relocate and join the Arizona Coyotes signing a 2-year deal worth 3.5 million per season. Alex last season managed just 32 points in 80 regular season games and Toronto liked him because of his ability to slot anywhere in the lineup. I’m sure if he was willing to sign for maybe 1.5 or 2 million dollars then Toronto would have kept him, and he could have fit nicely into Toronto’s bottom six forward group. He decided a change of scenery was best for him and hopefully playing in Arizona does that for him because honestly if paired on the right line Alex can score a decent number of points and be well worth the 7-million-dollar total value he is being given.

I know many fans are disappointed because yesterday’s additions may seem underwhelming but like our GM said yesterday there’s all summer to add and make changes to this roster. Am I popping champagne bottles or planning parade routes over yesterday’s signings by the Leafs? No, but I am sitting here thinking ok this wasn’t a bad first day. So, fans let’s take a deep breath and see how the rest of the summer unfolds for our Toronto Maple Leafs.

 

That’s all for this one thanks as always for reading and please keep an eye on my social media because if the Leafs do anything I will be posting there as well.

 

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