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The Toronto Maple Leafs extended qualifying offers to six players (forwards Miro Aaltonen, Frederik Gauthier, Andreas Johnsson and William Nylander, and defensemen Justin Holl and Martin Marincin) to retain their rights as restricted free agents on Monday.
Nylander (coming off a pair of 60+ point seasons) could be the most difficult of the RFA’s to get to agree to a new contract, as the 22-year-old could be looking for long-term security coming off his entry-level contract.
The remaining six players spent the majority of their season with the Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies and are likely to be re-signed to one-or-two years for less than $1 Million. The only exception to that may be Johnsson, who the Leafs may want to get locked up longer after a 54-point season in the AHL, an impressive debut in the NHL at the end of the year and winning the Calder Cup Playoff MVP.
Aaltonen announced last week that he is returning to the KHL after one season, but the Leafs now retain his rights if he decides to return to North America.
The offer is not a guarantee that all who were qualified will return next season or be signed to new contracts. The Leafs can rescind their offer and allow a player to become an unrestricted free agent if they cannot come to an agreement or if they acquire players via trade or free agency and are no longer interested in signing a player.
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The Leafs used last year’s development camp to get an extended look at some young prospects, which resulted in defensemen Sean Durzi and Mac Hollowell getting selected by Toronto in the second and fourth round on Saturday.
Some invitees who could pique their interest is Israeli-born forward David Levin, a former top pick in the OHL Priority Draft who did not get selected over the weekend and is draft eligible in 2019, 18-year-old Egor Sokolov, who scored 42 points for Cape Breton in the QMJHL last season and defenseman Adam Holwell, who scored 50 points for the Memorial Cup winning Acadie-Bathurst Titans and can be signed as a free agent.
It will also be the first look at draft pick Vladislav Kara, who stayed in Russia after being selected by Toronto in the fourth round in 2017, but 2016 second rounder Yegor Korshkov is a no-show for the third straight camp.
Korshkov was expected to head to North America after the end of the KHL season, but re-signed with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv for one year. The 20-year-old indicated to reporter Igor Eronko that the Leafs were “OK with my decision, but obviously not glad… and that his goal is to establish himself in the KHL before heading to North America.
The Leafs retain Korshokov’s rights until 2020.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs top executives are meeting with John Tavares and his representatives in Los Angeles, CA on Monday afternoon.
Team President Brendan Shanahan, GM Kyle Dubas and head coach Mike Babcock will make their presentation in the hopes of wooing the pending free agent center to sign with Toronto.
The pitch to be made for Tavares is very different than the one made to Steven Stamkos, since the Leafs were coming off a 30th place finish and just selected Auston Matthews in the NHL Draft two years ago.
Tavares will not be expected to be the savior of the franchise and carry the club on his shoulders, but to be a big piece of the puzzle, and that might improve their chances, but the odds still favor the Mississauga native returning to New York for a reported eight-year, $88 Million contract offer.
The Maple Leafs contingent has just arrived at the CAA offices in LA to present to John Tavares.
— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) June 25, 2018
Crew is Brendan Shanahan, Kyle Dubas and Mike Babcock. pic.twitter.com/XROHxy1XoM
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