Petr Mrazek one of the top buyout candidates this summer in fans' eyes
There's really no way around it. Petr Mrazek's first season as a Leaf was an absolute train wreck. Let's just get that out of the way first and foremost. He posted career-worst numbers across the board and spent a significant amount of time on injured reserved. Not quite the way he wanted to spend the first year of his 3-year deal, which carries a $3.8M AAV, no doubt.
With June just a few days away and July just around the corner, teams are beginning to consider who their potential buyout targets might be, with the first buyout window opening up 48 hours after the Stanley Cup is awarded and the last buyout window closing on July 12th, just in time for free agency on July to open up on 13th.
According to CapFriendly, the most popular buyout candidate this summer is Mrazek, followed by Sergei Bobrovsky and Nick Foligno. Per CapFriendly's buyout calculator, Mrazek was the one most frequently bought out in the Armchair GM feature.
Now, while the fans are in favour of buying Mrazek out, the Leafs are likely in favour of finding him a new home first, to avoid any potential buyout penalty, which would result in dead cap space. That said, a Mrazek buyout still isn't terrible should the Leafs be forced to go that route. If the Leafs did elect to go that route, Mrazek's cap hit in each of the next four seasons would be $1.03M, $833K, $1.43M, $1.43M, totaling a combined $4.73M over 4 years. This would save the Leafs nearly $3M per season in 2022-23 and 2023-24, but would hit them with $1.43M in dead cap space in the final two years of the buyout.
My gut feeling tells me that the Leafs will find a taker for Mrazek, perhaps as part of a larger deal involving multiple pieces to address a need either in goal or elsewhere in the lineup. Leafs fans should prepare themselves for the team having to attach a pick or a prospect to Mrazek in order to rid themselves of that contract though. That's how these things typically work.
So, what would you rather see happen? The Leafs buying out Mrazek? Or the Leafs handcuffing Mrazek to a pick or prospect to move the contract?
| POLL | ||
MAI 26 | 304 ANSWERS Petr Mrazek one of the top buyout candidates this summer in fans' eyes Will the Leafs buy out Mrazek this summer? | ||
| No, they'll trade him | 124 | 40.8 % |
| No, they'll keep him | 28 | 9.2 % |
| Yes, he's done in Toronto | 152 | 50 % |
| List of polls | ||
