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With the first day of free agency over, fans are starting to break down exactly what their respective teams did, and what they could have done.
No different than any other year, the Toronto Maple Leafs were rumoured to be in discussion with several teams with respect to trades, but also looking to bring in talent by signing a UFA or two. That said, the Leafs ended up bringing back two former players in Matt Frattin, and Leo Komaro.
There were talks for months that Leo wanted to return to the NHL and most specifically, the Leafs, but it was also common knowledge that he was allegedly asking too much in terms of contract dollars and term. That said, the two parties came to an agreement and the feisty forward has been signed to a 4 year, $2.9M deal. Some fans were a little surprised by the term which the Leafs gave the former player, given that he has only had one NHL season under his belt so far, but Dave Nonis and the Leafs brass feel that he the type of player which their roster sorely missed last year.
With respect to these two acquisitions, I really don’t have a lot to complain about. The Leafs weren’t exactly tough to play against last year and had a tremendous time trying to keep the puck out of their own end and away from their goalie. They simply could not wear down the opposition enough on most nights, and as a result, would end up losing a few too many games as the season progressed.
That being established, it’s probably a good thing that Toronto didn’t end up making the playoffs this past season because frankly, the intensity and work ethic which they provided on average would have been painful to watch during the playoffs. I understand that anything can happen come playoffs and certain players take their games to another level when introduced to the playoffs, however I would not be comfortable predicting much success for that roster given how they ended the year.
Has the team improved?
Yes, actually they have, but there's still work to do.
While not exactly ranked high with respect to goals per game, Toronto didn’t generally have issues when it came to scoring. There were times where they didn’t necessarily get scoring from all three lines, however for the most part, they managed to find the back of the net often enough. I can only imagine that with a terrible season from Clarkson with respect to offensive output, and a mediocre one from Kadri, that the Leafs should be able to improve even further in that regard.
With the departure of Mason Raymond and soon to be Nikolai Kulemin, the Leafs may not be as fast up front as they were, however the additions of Matt Frattin and Leo Komarov should make them harder to play against. Additionally, adding Roman Polak and Stephane Robidas should only further that notion given that both defenders are known to play with a physical edge.
Whats more, is that Robidas should add some leadership and perhaps character to the Leafs back end which many felt was perhaps inadequate. While I won’t sit here and say that Robidas and Polak will drastically improve the Leafs defensive numbers this upcoming season, I can’t help but play the odds in saying that adding these two players, in addition to having a year older version of Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner, should see a few improvements.
Let’s face it – Gunnarsson wasn’t getting the job done and Cody Franson could not figure out how to cover a man in his own end if his life depended on it. The Leafs will now have, in this writer’s opinion, a better (not great) balance of offensive guys, defensive guys, and experience on the backend.
What their defensive roster currently boasts doesn’t yet scream success on paper to me, however I feel that they improved upon an area which often struggled with last year, and there could be another move coming to further improve upon this.
Dave Nonis mentioned that there is likely 1-2 more players which the Leafs would like to add, given their cap space left, and I can’t help but feel that it would be a 3rd line centreman and or defenseman. That said, who would you like to try and acquire?
On a side note, how much of a slap to the face for Leafs fans was the comment made by Josh Gorges who denied a trade to Toronto? Personally, I found it humorous and enjoyed it as it only added to the rivalry between the fan bases, but to veto the trade and go to the last place Buffalo Sabres instead? Ya, that's one for the books.
Thanks for reading!