Insider reporting that nearly half the league is interested in this one of the Leafs' pending UFAs
If you were among those holding onto hope that Ilya Mikheyev might test the free agent market but decide to remain in Toronto due to the interest being moderate or the offers not being as good as he'd hoped, you may want to sit down for this one. The Ilya Mikheyev era in Toronto is more likely than not about to come to an abrupt end this summer.
According to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, as many as 16 teams could have interest in Mikheyev if he makes it to free agency on July 13th. Obviously, if half of the NHL's franchises may have an interest, there could very well end up being a bidding war for Mikheyev's services, which greatly decreases the likelihood that the Leafs would match the highest bidder.
The original reports in May had Mikheyev's ask in the $3.5M-$4M on a 3 or 4 year deal. Since that time, Mikheyev's ask has gone up and now he could be looking for in excess of $4M or even $5M per season on a long-term deal. Maybe his agent, Dan Milstein, got a sense for how hot the market was going to be for Mikheyev and decided to increase their asking price. Granted, they can ask for anything. What they get could be an entirely different story. I think, for Mikheyev, he's simply looking for the best fit and a fair deal.
The 27-year-old winger is coming off of a breakout season that saw him notch 21 goals and 32 points in just 53 games. That would put him pretty close to a 50-point season over the course of a full 82 games. On top of his very respectable level of production, Mikheyev also brings a lot of speed and a strong defensive game to the table.
Mikheyev counted for just $1.645M against the cap in each of his last two seasons in Toronto.
