Several Leafs became eligible to sign contract extensions on Sunday; here's who may re-up with the club and who likely leaves
For the Toronto Maple Leafs, there will once again be some big decisions to make in the summer and a good amount of roster turnover. With the salary cap being what it is, it's just the nature of the beast. However, we may see the Leafs make a couple of commitments in-season that stretch beyond the 2022-23 campaign.
On Sunday, several Leafs, who are all on one-year deals, became eligible to sign contract extensions, including Pierre Engvall, Zach Aston-Reese, Jordie Benn, Ilya Samsonov and Victor Mete. Of course, Engvall, Aston-Reese and Benn are all pending UFAs, while Mete and Samsonov are pending RFAs.
With Engvall commanding more and more salary each season, this could be the summer where we finally see him move on from the city where it all started for him. Currently making $2.25M to play in the bottom 6, there are likely some candidates within the system who can fill those minutes internally at a fraction of the cost.
Aston-Reese signed a 1-year, $840K contract with the Leafs this fall after a successful PTO, but may look for a bit more money on his next contract elsewhere. I could see Jordie Benn re-upping with the Leafs on another 1-year deal if there's some space left over after this summer's moves, but I doubt we'll see an extension for Benn in-season.
As for Mete and Samsonov, I'd imagine that the Leafs will tender a qualifying offer to Mete, but will likely not go much above that for a player who would likely be their 8th or 9th defenseman. Samsonov, however, is a bit of a conundrum. After getting off to a roaring start, Samsonov's progress has slowed considerably. It might be wise for the Leafs to get out in front of this one now. If they think Samsonov is going to rebound and return to the form that he displayed early on this season, lock him down for 3-5 seasons. If they don't, then maybe they simply allow this season to play out and re-assess come June/July.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 2 | 905 ANSWERS Several Leafs became eligible to sign contract extensions on Sunday; here's who may re-up with the club and who likely leaves Would the Leafs be wise to extend Samsonov now? | ||
| No, wait until the summer | 391 | 43.2 % |
| Yes, don't want to get caught paying more later | 514 | 56.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
