For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter With the Toronto Maple Leafs expecting a significant cap crunch next season, GM Kyle Dubas may continue to go down the well-traveled road of signing players from the European leagues to inexpensive entry-level contracts. This avenue has been limited in success but has provided the club with depth at the NHL and American Hockey League level. The greatest success has been Nikita Zaitsev, who has been up and down in his three years in Toronto and is the subject of trade speculation with five years left on a seven-year, $31.5 Million contract extension. Nikita Soshnikov enjoyed spot duty with the Leafs over three seasons before being dealt to St. Louis, Miro Aaltonen was brought over to challenge for the fourth line center job, but never played a game in the NHL and returned to the KHL after helping the Toronto Marlies win the Calder Cup. Andreas Borgman, Par Lindholm, and Calle Rosen were signed out of the Swedish Hockey League. Borgman has struggled with a variety of injuries in his two seasons in North America, Lindholm spent time on the fourth line until being traded to Winnipeg for Nic Petan at the deadline, while Rosen appears penciled in for a bottom pairing role with the Leafs with the expected departure of Jake Gardiner and possible retirement of Ron Hainsey. The latest experiment to fail was big Russian defenseman Igor Ozhiganov. The 26-year-old played 53 games for Toronto this season, but was a healthy scratch for nearly a month after the acquisition of Jake Muzzin and only played down the stretch in March with Rosen, Travis Dermott and Jake Gardiner injured. After his KHL rights were dealt from CSKA Moscow to Ak-Bars Kazan on Tuesday, the possibility of Ozhiganov going back to Russia appears likely. In spite of not hitting a home run like Artemi Panarin, Dubas is still looking to Europe for inexpensive options. The Leafs GM traveled to Russia in January to check out 2016 second round pick Yegor Korshkov and TSN’s Darren Dreger are interested in signing 24-year-old forward Ilya Mikheyev. Kevin McGran reported on Tuesday that an unnamed Russian player would be signed by the Leafs on Wednesday, which is the day that KHL contracts expire and with Mikheyev in Russia preparing for next month’s IIHF World Championships in Slovakia, it is very likely that the unknown Russian is Korshkov. The 6’4…, 180 lb winger played just 19 games for Yaroslavl Lokomotiv this season due to injury, would likely sign with the Leafs on a two or three-year entry-level contract in the $800,000 to $925,000 range, and could join the Toronto Marlies for their playoff run on an amateur tryout. Mikheyev led Avangard Omsk in scoring with 45 points (23 G, 22 A) in 62 regular season games and 11 points in the Gargarin Cup Playoffs and could make a decision this week, but could wait until after the World Championships to drum up more interest or make a final decision. *******
No Leafs hockey, but lots of Leafs related hockey stuff to Convo about.
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) April 29, 2019
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