The Engvall deal was met with a ton of criticism, but now it looks like a genius move; here's why
Leafs Twitter was up in arms over the announcement of Pierre Engvall signing a 1-year $2.25M deal last week. Many thought he was overpaid, given the fact that his deal was nearly a 100% pay increase over last season, while others questioned why they would walk him to free agency. Some even wanted the Leafs to wait for arbitration. However, the Leafs signing him to this deal was a tidy piece of business.
Why you ask? The Pens just resigned Kasperi Kapenen to a 2-year deal worth $3.2M per season. Kapenen was coming off of a season where he put up 11 goals, 21 assists, and 32 points in 79 games. Engvall on the other hand put up 15 goals, 20 assists, and 35 points in 78 games. Had the Leafs and Engvall gone to arbitration, Engvall almost certainly would have used Kapenen's new contract and stats from last season as a comparable. He likely would have been awarded close to $3M if the case went to an arbitrator, so by signing him to the deal they did last week, the Leafs saved anywhere from $500K to $1M in cap room.
The Leafs are currently over the cap with Rasmus Sandin still to sign and Dubas noting he wants to add a physical, right shot defenseman and potentially an additional forward. That means we will almost definitely see a trade or two in the coming weeks to free up cap space.
Thankfully, Sandin is not yet arbitration eligible, meaning that the Leafs have nothing but time.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 21 | 421 ANSWERS The Engvall deal was met with a ton of criticism, but now it looks like a genius move; here's why Will Pierre Engvall score 20 goals for the Leafs this season? | ||
| Yes | 262 | 62.2 % |
| No | 159 | 37.8 % |
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