Highly popular fourth liner remains unsigned and a PTO option for the Leafs
He certainly won't help the Leafs with secondary scoring in their bottom 6, but current UFA forward Tyler Motte would bring a much needed change of pace to the Leafs' fourth line. The 27-year-old Motte, who was dealt by the Vancouver Canucks to the New York Rangers at the trade deadline, would be a great addition to the Leafs' 3rd or 4th line as they look to make their bottom 6 tougher to play against.
Motte is not by any means a big guy, standing just 5'10 and 193 pounds, but he skates well and plays a tenacious, physical game. He can also contribute to the penalty kill, a place where the Leafs need to add bodies after losing Ilya Mikheyev and Ondrej Kase. Signing Motte to a PTO may be a long shot, given every GM looks for his style of play for the playoffs, but it's something the Leafs should consider. A fourth line with both Motte and Nicolas Aube-Kubel on it would be very tough for the opposition to play against.
With the retirement of Jason Spezza and veteran enforcers Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford often unable to keep up with the pace of play, adding Motte alongside Aube-Kubel would allow Keefe to trust and deploy his fourth line more consistently. Given the fact that training camp is just over a week away and the Leafs are still $1.5M over the cap, expect them to make a few moves before and during training camp.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 5 | 304 ANSWERS Highly popular fourth liner remains unsigned and a PTO option for the Leafs Should the Leafs pursue a PTO for depth forward Tyler Motte? | ||
| Yes | 201 | 66.1 % |
| No | 63 | 20.7 % |
| Just sign him to a contract without the PTO | 40 | 13.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
