The Engvall deal was met with a ton of criticism, but now it looks like a genius move; here's why

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.