Did one of the Leafs' RFAs inadvertently reveal on social media that he won't be a Leaf next season?
The Leafs may enter the 2022-23 season with much or all of the same core, but that doesn't mean that there won't be significant turnover this summer. By all appearances, we can probably kiss Ilya Mikheyev goodbye, as the pending UFA had requested a trade last summer. One of the more noteworthy changes we might see could be that of Jack Campbell, as reports have surfaced suggesting that the Leafs and Campbell are currently quite far apart in their negotiations.
One potential change that may have flown under the radar relates to pending RFA Ondrej Kase who, after a decent bounce back season, will undoubtedly be looking for a salary bump. This, paired with the fact that Kase has arbitration rights, could lead to the Czech winger not being qualified by the Leafs, thus becoming a UFA this summer.
On Friday, Kase took to social media to thank Leafs fans for their support all season. Was he just reaching out to fans to express his gratitude, or is it possible that he has already met with management to discuss the future and the two sides have already agreed to part ways?
Kase was limited to just 50 games this season, posting 14 goals and 27 points for the Buds, seeint time on both the power play and penalty killing units.
Prior to joining the Leafs, Kase earned $2.6M per season over 3 seasons, split between the Ducks and the Bruins, though he was limited to just 9 regular season games as a Bruin, and just 3 games in the entire 2020-21 season. He signed a 1-year deal with the Leafs last summer for $1.25M in an attempt to get his career back on track and prove to NHL clubs that he can be an effective NHLer when healthy. After producing at over half a point per game, it's likely that Kase will be expecting a much higher salary next season.
It would not be out of the realm of possibility that the Leafs have begun their exit interviews with some of their UFAs and RFAs to determine what the salary expectations are for next season. If this is the case and if Kase's came in higher than anticipated, it would make sense that the Leafs may have already informed him that he won't be back next season.
We're just over one month away from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, so I'd anticipate some movement or some clarity leading up to the draft or at the draft in early July.
