Less than 48 hours ago, the Leafs avoided salary arbitration with forward Pierre Engvall and signed him to a 1-year $2.25M deal. His new contract is a significant raise from the $1.25M he made the prior two seasons.
A seventh round pick in 2014, the 6'5, 215 pound Swede made the full-time jump to the NHL during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. Since becoming a full-time Leaf, Engvall has posted 47 points in 120 games including a 15-goal, 35-point season in 2021-22. In speaking with the media yesterday Engvall talked about his production and what he expects for himself coming into next season.
"I hope and I think that I can score 20 goals. I will definitely do my best to prepare this summer and get back as good as I can be for next season," said Engvall when asked about next season. He also noted that he wants to use his size and be a more physical presence than in past seasons. His lack of physicality, or at least his inconsistency with it, is something that Leafs fans have hated since he joined the team, but it's encouraging to see he wants to incorporate it into his game more.
Engvall spent much of the season playing with David Kampf and Ilya Mikheyev and that line proved to be a handful for other teams in the offensive zone and was responsible defensively. It was a line that Keefe trusted so much that he said he often put them out to shift play to the other end of the ice when he felt the Leafs were trapped in their zone. Engvall will most likely slot in again next to Kampf this season with Jarnkrok likely on the other wing and we should expect the same and more from that line.
The Leafs may not know what their fourth line will be or who will slot next to John Tavares or William Nylander, but Keefe knows that he will at least have one of the best defensive third lines in the league even before a single game has been played.
