Leafs' refusal to sign PTO standout puts them at risk of losing potential breakout star
On October 30th, the Toronto Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, signed 25-year-old Kieffer Bellows to an amateur try-out. The former first-round pick has struggled to stay in the NHL and was placed on waivers last season by the New York Islanders before being claimed by the Philadelphia Flyers.
Bellows went without a qualifying offer from the Flyers this summer, which made him an unrestricted free agent. Unable to land an NHL contract, Bellows joined the Marlies just a couple of days before they embarked on a lengthy road-trip and has fit right in as he had scored five goals and has 11 points through seven games.
Bellows seems to be content on his ATO currently, but is working towards earning an NHL deal - something he made clear to TSN's Mark Masters when the two spoke.
Bellows believes that he is the type of player the Leafs are and have been looking for as head coach Sheldon Keefe continues to tinker, although not much recently, with his bottom-six.
Last night, Bellows extended his point streak to 8 games with the Marlies, scoring a huge goal to bring his total to 12 points over that span. How much more does this kid have to do to earn a contract?
The Leafs currently have just under $1.6M in cap space according to CapFriendly, but that's without activating Conor Timmins from LTIR. Still, they would be able to fit a contract for Bellows around or slightly above the league minimum with no issues. They also may have John Klingberg headed to LTIR at some point as well, which would free up an additional $4.15M.
The Leafs would be foolish to wait much longer to sign Bellows to an NHL deal as other teams are likely taking notice of his play with the Marlies. Since Bellows is on an AHL try-out, he is free to sign with whichever team comes calling. It would be a shame to allow him to land with another team at this point. Brad Treliving should sign this kid ASAP.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 22 | 466 ANSWERS Leafs' refusal to sign PTO standout puts them at risk of losing potential breakout star Should the Leafs sign Keiffer Bellows and give him a shot in the bottom-six? | ||
| Yes, he can add some secondary scoring | 389 | 83.5 % |
| No, their lineup is fine right now | 77 | 16.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
