Insider makes Leafs Nation unhappy with his report on the status of 3 popular free agents in Toronto
The Leafs have yet to announce any signings this summer to keep some of their free agents in Toronto, which is concerning when you consider that we're 8 days out from the draft and 11 days out from free agency.
We have already seen reports drop, doubting the potential returns of Michael Bunting, Alexander Kerfoot and Justin Holl. There was also some chatter that Ryan O'Reilly may not be back either, but today, we received an update from TSN's Chris Johnston on a few more UFAs.
Johnston, too, touched on O'Reilly, but also on Luke Schenn and Noel Acciari - two players who the Leafs were rumoured to have wanted to bring back. As it stands, Johnston doesn't believe any of them will return.
"Here's the hard part - it's hard to envision any of them being back [Schenn, O'Reilly and Acciari] at this point in time, just because they're so close to July 1st. July 1st works both ways. It's a chance for the teams make changes, but obviously, as a player, it's a chance to see how the market values you.
Typically, you would think that those contracts, if someone was coming back, it would be done. There is still time, of course, to maneuver here and I think that dialogue has continued with the Leafs and some of their free agents. It's not as though the door has been closed, I don't think, 100% on any of them at this point in time."
Johnston revealed that while Schenn and the Leafs have both expressed an interest in continuing their partnership, but there's no guarantees there. He also suggested that O'Reilly's price tag might be the determining factor on whether or not he returns and as far as Acciari goes, Johnston believes there's a ton of interest from multiple teams.
It's really anyone's guess what the Leafs will do to fill those holes if all of these players do depart as free agents. I'd imagine that we'll see at least 1 or 2 of them back for the simple reason that the Leafs need to ice a full 23-man roster next season. Allowing 20 UFAs and RFAs to walk will make that extremely difficult.
These next few days will be a pretty good indicator, I'd imagine, as to where the team stands with a number of their free agents. Last year, in the 10 days leading up to free agency, there were more than 50 signings announced across the league, so I'd say there's a strong chance that we get some news this week/weekend on a number of the Leafs' free agents.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 20 | 1075 ANSWERS Insider makes Leafs Nation unhappy with his report on the status of 3 popular free agents in Toronto If you could only bring back ONE of the following players, who would it be? | ||
| Ryan O'Reilly | 379 | 35.3 % |
| Luke Schenn | 462 | 43 % |
| Noel Acciari | 171 | 15.9 % |
| None of the above | 63 | 5.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
