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The Toronto Maple Leafs will investigate a number of different ways to make key additions this summer. With solid drafts and European free agents added over the last couple seasons, the club is well positioned to package prospects and draft picks in a trade.
The unrestricted free agent pool is rather shallow on July 1, but GM Lou Lamoriello may be willing to dip in for a veteran or two if the contract is short-term.
One method that the Leafs are unlikely to explore is extending an offer sheet to a restricted free agent.
In
The Athletic last week, it was suggested that Toronto sign Blues RFA defenseman Colton Parayko to a massive offer sheet that would make nearly impossible for St. Louis to match without ripping their team apart.
While the Leafs desperate need for a top four defenseman is undeniable, extending an offer sheet would simply be madness. It would bring about negative repercussions more dire than Brian Burke challenging Kevin Lowe to a fight in the nearest barn, such as retribution from other teams when Toronto players become RFA’s.
That happened in 2008, when the St. Louis Blues responded to an Vancouver offer sheet to David Backes by matching it and making an offer to Canucks RFA Steve Bernier.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong indicated to
Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he will match any offer sheet extended to Parayko and that would be the likely response you would get from Flyers GM Ron Hextall if the Leafs tried to sign Shayne Gostisbehere or from Caps GM Brian MacLellan if Toronto went after Dmitry Orlov.
Since the turn of the century, there have been seven offer sheets made. Only one has resulted in the team extending the offer sheet and getting the player. Edmonton signed winger Dustin Penner to a five-year, $21.5 Million offer and the Anaheim Ducks did not match.
Offer sheets can be used strategically to put a division or conference rival in a bad cap situation or to prevent them from getting a player, as Philadelphia did when they made an offer sheet to defenseman Shea Weber in 2012. It was made in part because the Flyers wanted Weber and did not think Nashville would have the financial resources to match, but it was also because the New York Rangers were also pursuing him.
In the coming weeks, we will hear a number of rumors regarding the Leafs and their interest in potentially available defensemen, but it is a stretch to believe that Lou Lamoriello would go down the offer sheet route to acquire someone like Parayko.
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