Insider reveals what the Leafs are thinking about trying to re-sign 3 key pending UFAs
With a couple of days having passed since the Leafs were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in 5 games, the reality that the season is officially over is finally setting in. The Buds now shift to offseason thinking and obviously, the status of GM Kyle Dubas will need to be sorted out sooner than later so the team can get to work on either finding a new GM or getting Dubas locked in to an extension so that he can get to work on sorting out his roster for next season.
Last night, during the Seattle/Dallas game, Elliotte Friedman, David Amber and Kevin Bieksa spoke during intermission about what could happen with 3 of the Leafs' pending UFA's. There is a belief from Friedman's standpoint that the Leafs have an interest in bringing each of Noel Acciari, Luke Schenn and Ryan O'Reilly back. However, Friedman doesn't believe the Leafs will be able to afford to bring all 3 back.
"It depends on what all those players want to do... I don't think you can bring all 3 of them back, but the 3 of them individually, I think they'd be interested in bringing them back, it's just 'can you do it?'... the number one question is Matthews." - Friedman on the Leafs' desire to bring back Acciari, Schenn and O'Reilly
Each of O'Reilly, Schenn and Acciari had played important roles for the Leafs all throughout the playoffs. O'Reilly was not only a great locker room leader and the most vocal guy on the team, but also a key on-ice contributor on the defensively, on the forecheck and, most importantly, on the scoresheet. Acciari and Schenn didn't factor in as much on the offense, but both were excellent defensively and were key penalty killers. They also sit #1 and #2 in hits in these playoffs, respectively.
It might be unrealistic to think that the Leafs will, in fact, re-sign all 3, but there's no question that bringing back at least 1 or 2 of these guys would be a wise move for the Buds, given what type of an impact each of them has had for the Leafs since coming over ahead of the deadline.
Previously on MapleLeafsDaily
| POLL | ||
MAI 14 | 1075 ANSWERS Insider reveals what the Leafs are thinking about trying to re-sign 3 key pending UFAs If you could only have ONE of these 3 names back with the Leafs next year, who would you choose? | ||
| Noel Acciari | 114 | 10.6 % |
| Ryan O'Reilly | 574 | 53.4 % |
| Luke Schenn | 356 | 33.1 % |
| None of them | 31 | 2.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
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