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The Leafs have signed Patrick Marleau to a three-year, $18.75 Million contract ($6.25 Million AAV)
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The Toronto Maple Leafs were able to make some necessary additions on July 1, but their moves were more to fill spots vacated by players who went elsewhere on the opening day of free agency.
The Leafs lost defenseman Matt Hunwick (who signed a three-year, $6.75 Million deal with the Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins) and filled his spot with veteran blueliner Ron Hainsey.
Hainsey has played for six teams (Montreal, Columbus, Atlanta, Winnipeg, Carolina and Pittsburgh) in his 14-year NHL career and after playing 907 regular season games, finally reached the post-season with the Penguins last season.
The Bolton, Connecticut native played a larger-than-expected role in Pittsburgh’s Cup run due to injuries to blueliners Kris Letang, Trevor Daley and Justin Schultz, finishing second with over 21 minutes of ice time and scoring eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in 25 games.
The 36-year-old indicated that he chose Toronto because of his familiarity with the system Mike Babcock plays and the promising young group of forwards on the Leafs roster.
“The system is a great fit for me. When (Hurricanes head coach) Bill Peters got to Carolina and put the system in which is basically what Mike (Babcock) does, it really suited my game. It’s a system I’m really confident playing.” Hainsey said. “That, coupled with everything that is going on (in Toronto) with all the young forwards who can create so much offense, and from (Brendan Shanahan) on down, you’d be nuts if you didn’t want to be part of this group.”
Free agent center Brian Boyle also departed, signing a two-year deal, $5.5 Million deal with the New Jersey Devils and the Leafs filled the void with former Leaf Dominic Moore for one year at $1 Million.
The 36-year-old has played for 10 teams (including the New York Rangers on two separate occasions) in 12 years, mostly because of his value as a faceoff specialist and penalty killer. Moore won 54.6% of his face-offs with the Boston Bruins last season and scored 25 points, posting his highest goal total (11) since 2011.
“The speed that Toronto plays the game, I think, impressed everyone. Playing against them, you really get a clear sense of that.” Moore said. “That’s only obviously going to continue to improve. Looking at this team and being able to be a part of it and play a role on it was obviously something I was extremely excited to be able to do.”
The price of backup goalies escalated on July 1, as Anders Nilsson, Ryan Miller, Chad Johnson and Jonathan Bernier each signed for between $2-2.75 Million per season. GM Lou Lamoriello was able to avoid that rate hike and re-sign veteran Curtis McElhinney for $1.7 Million over two years ($850,000 AAV) and Marlies goalie Garret Sparks for $1.3 Million over two years ($675,000 AAV).
“Curtis did a great job for us, he really did. He’s a quality character who gets along with (Leafs starting goalie) Freddy (Andersen).’ Lamoriello said at the MasterCard Centre on Saturday. “That’s so important for the number of games he has to play.”
The Leafs also addressed the needs of the AHL Toronto Marlies, re-signing veteran Colin Greening for one year and added veteran AHL defenseman Vincent LoVerde on a two-year deal to replace Marlies team captain Andrew Campbell, who signed with the Arizona Coyotes.
Toronto looked to remedy their lack of organizational depth up the middle, adding 31-year-old Chris Mueller to a two-year deal and 22-year-old former Rochester Amerk Jean Dupuy on an AHL contract. They also (according to the Star’s
Kevin McGran ) will get 2012 draft pick Dominic Toninato signed before he becomes a free agent in August.
While Toronto was productive on Day 1, they did not accomplish the goal thought by many to be the key to making progress next season, which is adding a top-four defenseman to the fold.
Hainsey played a top-four role in the playoffs, but is better suited to play on a bottom pairing and killing penalties as Hunwick did. If the Leafs use the left-handed veteran on their top two pairings, it would likely necessitate moving Morgan Rielly to the right side.
The pursuit of a defenseman may be tied to Toronto’s pursuit of veteran Patrick Marleau. The 37-year-old winger went conspicuously unsigned on Saturday, while most of the big free agents chose a destination.
Various reports indicate that Toronto is among a small group of teams competing for Marleau’s services. If the Leafs are successful is signing the longtime Shark, it is highly probable that they will make room for his salary by moving winger James van Riemsdyk.
Van Riemsdyk scored 29 goals last season and with most of the scoring forwards already signed, it is possible that Toronto could move his economical $4.25 Million to a team in need of offense for a defenseman.
Sportsnet’s John Shannon said there may be interest on the part of the Leafs in re-signing veteran Roman Polak, but that may be as a fallback if they cannot pull off a deal for a blueliner.
Polak is recovering from a broken leg suffered in the playoffs vs Washington and according to Lamoriello has had no setbacks in his recovery, but the Leafs GM would not hint if the club is interested in re-signing the 31-year-old blueliner.
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