The Toronto Maple Leafs had greater aspirations to add or retain players as unrestricted free agents hit the open market on July 1, but lost out in two instances to their two Florida-based Atlantic Division rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.
The Leafs had significant interest in center Brian Boyle, who was a key depth forward for the New York Rangers in their run to the Stanley Cup Final. The 29-year-old Hingham, MA native received a more lucrative contract offer from Toronto according to a report from
Joe Smith of Tampa Bay Times , but decided to sign a three-year, $6 Million deal with the Lightning.
Unlike the situation with Josh Gorges, where animosity towards a long time hated rival was the stated reason for not coming to Toronto, Boyle chose Tampa Bay because his wife Lauren is from nearby Orlando, FL and he was recruited by former teammate Ryan Callahan, who had re-signed with the Lightning after being traded for Martin St. Louis at the trade deadline.
"It was (Callahan’s) perspective, was that something I really could trust, because he's been through the same thing and he's moving down there and he was raving about it," Boyle said. "So obviously I took his word for it."
In regards to former Leaf Dave Bolland, Toronto did not make an offer even close to the one he accepted from the Florida Panthers until the eleventh hour, according to Bolland’s agent Anton Thun.
“We had indicated to the Leafs from day one when the negotiations started that he was very interested in being with the Leafs and that he would accept a big discount on what we believed the market was to be a Leaf .” Thun said on Sportsnet FAN 590’s Prime Time Sports on Monday. “But we never got to that point.”
Thun indicated that the Leafs offer was “not literally close in any way, shape or form until Noon on July 1” and that the Panther’s offer(5 years, $27.5 Million) was $800,000 better per season than Toronto’s final offer, because of no state taxes in Florida, which would put the Leafs offer at less than $5 Million annually.
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If you would to give to a good cause, Five Hole For Food is a group that plays ball hockey throughout Canada to collect donations for Canadian food banks. They will be playing at Yonge/Dundas from 11am to 5pm this Thursday if you would like to donate.*******
The possibility of a trade involving team captain Dion Phaneuf appears unlikely, according to
Rosie Dimanno of the Toronto Star. Phaneuf has a limited no-trade clause in effect with his new seven year, $49 Million contract and the offers received for the 29-year-old defenseman from other clubs did not impress Leafs GM Dave Nonis.
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Toronto may announce additions to their coaching staff this week, during the annual rookie camp being held at the MasterCard Center in Etobicoke, ON. Recent speculation indicates that Marlies assistants Gord Dineen and Derek King could be promoted to the big club, while external candidates include Rockford head coach Ted Dent, former NHL head coaches Adam Oates and Tony Granato and longtime NHL assistant Perry Pearn.
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