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Brown "confident" that new deal with Leafs will get done

July 11, 2017, 10:46 AM ET [293 Comments]
Mike Augello
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Connor Brown is the lone unresolved off-season contract for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the restricted free agent did not seem stressed about the situation at the MasterCard Centre in Etobicoke, ON.

The 23-year-old Toronto native followed up an OHL scoring title and two successful years in the American Hockey League with a 20-goal season in his rookie year with the Leafs and should be in line for a significant pay raise from his entry-level contract, but currently Toronto does not have the cap space to sign Brown to an extension.

“(The contract talks) are with my agent and (Leafs) management. I’m just going to take care of what I can take care of and just be patient put in on the backburner. Brown said at the Leafs practice facility on Tuesday.



Toronto is $3.92 Million over the salary cap but other factors involving the cap during the summer leaves the Leafs with $421,062 to extend Brown, which has made the young winger’s name pop up in trade rumors.

“I’m trying to stay off Twitter.” Brown said in regards to the speculation. “I’m confident (that I will be around for the long term). Things will sort (themselves) out and I just have to be patient.”

Forward Zach Hyman (the other significant RFA this summer) signed a four-year, $9 Million extension earlier this month, but Hyman was arbitration-eligible and his new deal bought years of unrestricted free agency.



Brown is coming off a 20-goal year, but does not qualify for arbitration coming off his ELC and is controllable for four years before coming an unrestricted free agent, which means his deal will likely be a two-or-three year bridge deal and at an amount in the neighborhood of $3 Million per season.

Room under the cap to extend Brown would likely necessitate moving a veteran like James van Riemsdyk or Tyler Bozak (who both make more than $4 Million AAV) or a group of players like Eric Fehr ($2 Million), Alexei Marchenko ($1.45 Million) and/or Martin Marincin.

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The Maple Leafs scrimmage on Tuesday was an example of how players who have played in game action for three days have a distinct advantage over those who have been simply going through skating and situational drills.



Team Sittler (comprised totally of free agent invitees) bested Team Clark (comprised mostly of Leafs draft picks) 6-3 at the MasterCard Centre. The line of Kristian Pospisil, Jake Tortora and Austin Rueschhoff did most of the damage, with the diminutive Tortora scoring the hat trick and an assist.

Taro Hirose and Sami Tavernier also scored for Team Sittler, while Vladimir Bobylev, JJ Piccinich and Adam Brooks scored for Team Clark.

The 6'2", 179 lb. Pospisil played as a 20-year-old overager for Sioux City of the USHL last season after playing for his native Slovakia in the 2016 World Junior in Helsinki, which means he is eligible to be signed as a free agent (possibly an AHL contract) if the Leafs like what they see.

Tortora played bantam and minor midget for the Don Mills and two years in the US National Development Program, but did not get selected in his first year of draft eligibility and will be heading to Boston College this fall.



Rueschhoff is 19 and is from the St. Louis area and played with Leafs goaltending prospect Joseph Woll. The 6'6", 238 lb winger played for Dubuque of the USHL last season and is committed to the University of Western Michigan.

The Leafs rookies will play one more scrimmage on the final day of the development camp on Wednesday.



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