Leafs bring back depth forward from overseas on a one-year deal
The Leafs continue to tinker in free agency and have reportedly made another depth add on a league-minimum deal, as ESPN's Kevin Weekes is reporting that utility forward Denis Malgin is coming back to Toronto after putting up a pair of excellent seasons in Europe.
Malgin was famously acquired in the Mason Marchment deal with the Florida Panthers at the deadline back in 2019-20. Obviously, the move didn't pan out like the Leafs would have hoped, with Malgin playing just 8 games as a Leaf before signing with Lausanne HC in the Swiss A League for the 2020-21 season.
The Olten, Switzerland native posted 42 points in 45 games for Lausanne last season and it led him to an opportunity to sign with Zurich SC last summer. It proved to be a solid decision for Malgin, who posted 21 goals and 52 points in 48 games with the Lions last season.
At the time when Malgin was acquired by the Leafs, he had already had more than 180 NHL games under his belt and had shown a lot of potential. Many people don't realize how young Malgin is still, having just turned 25 in January. Malgin was just 23 years old when he left the Leafs' organization, so there was still room for improvement and development. It would appear that he's coming back a much more complete player.
The big knock against Malgin has always been his size. At just 5'9, 177 lbs, he's not winning any heavyweight titles anytime soon, but if he was able to go over to Switzerland and use his time in the men's league there to fine tune his skills and comes back a more polished player, there is plenty of room for this deal to pay off for the Leafs, considering how low-risk the move is. Quite simply, if Malgin doesn't win a spot in training camp, the Leafs can simply waive and demote him without consequence.
