The Strome brothers could be available in free agency this summer; the Leafs should sign them both
Last summer, we saw Leafs GM Kyle Dubas make plays for a pair of local boys in Michael Bunting and Nick Ritchie. One of those moves paid dividends, while the other did not.
Bunting has been an absolute Godsend for the Leafs, slotting in next to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to form one of the hottest lines in hockey this year. He is a Calder Trophy Finalist, and still has one season remaining on his current deal, which carries a cap hit of just $950,000.
Meanwhile, Nick Ritchie started in the role that Bunting ended up in, but could not find much in the way of chemistry with the ultra-talented Matthews and Marner and was quickly banished to fourth line duty and eventually placed on waivers and went unclaimed. In the end, the Leafs sent Ritchie to Arizona in exchange for defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, who was quickly accepted by the Leafs and the fanbase.
This year, there are a few hometown options who may be available to the Leafs on the free agent market, including Mississauga, ON native Ryan Strome. The first question on everyone's minds is going to be "will Strome even make it to free agency?" That's a fair question to ask. With the New York Rangers making it to the Eastern Conference Finals, combined with the role that the Rangers have entrusted Strome to play, alongside Artemi Panarin, Strome's preference may be to stay put in The Big Apple.
I'm sure there's a mutual interest in bringing him back as well, unless the Rangers plan to go big game hunting this summer. There are several names that the Rangers may be eyeing up if they make it to the open market, including Evgeni Malkin, Claude Giroux, Johnny Gaudreau, Filip Forsberg, Nazem Kadri and Kris Letang. If the Rangers plan to pursue any of these options, they'll have to be cognizant of the fact that they have just under $13.5M in cap space and only have 14 of 23 players signed through next season; 8 forwards, 5 defenseman and 1 goaltender. Strome, whose actual salary this season was $5M, would certainly eat into a lot of the Rangers' cap space if they wish to retain him. At 28 years old, Strome may be looking for his last long-term deal.
I'm going to throw out an idea here that may sound a little crazy, but it could actually end up being a pretty sweet one for the Leafs. Bear with me for a moment.
Elliotte Friedman stated on the most recent edition of The Jeff Marek Show that the Chicago Blackhawks are considering leaving former 3rd overall pick and pending RFA Dylan Strome unqualified, meaning that he would become a UFA and would be free to sign with any team he pleases. We know that the Strome brothers are from the GTA. We know that the Strome brothers grew up Leafs fans. My crazy idea if the Hawks do not qualify Dylan Strome and the Rangers move on from his brother Ryan? Kyle Dubas should move William Nylander and use his near $7M cap hit to sign Ryan and Dylan Strome.
Both players were top 5 draft picks, Ryan going 5th overall to the New York Islanders in 2011 and Dylan going 3rd overall to the Arizona Coyotes in 2015. Ryan is coming off of a deal which carried a $4.5M cap hit, while Dylan's deal carried a $3M cap hit. If the Leafs did decide to move William Nylander, they'd have over $15M in available cap space and with reports that the team will have several ELC players on the roster next season, would it make sense for the Leafs to use Nylander as trade bait to try to acquire a starting goaltender and then use his $7M to sign both of the Strome brothers (Ryan with a $4.75M AAV and Dylan with a $2.25M AAV)? The Leafs are also expected to move on from Petr Mrazek. If they replace him with a backup goaltender making $1.5M or less, that would save them $2.3M in additional space as well.
It sounds far-fetched, but for a couple of local boys, is it really that far-fetched? If they grew up Leafs fans and if they have a desire to play together at some point in their careers, the stars could be aligning for that to happen this summer. Would those stars ever align again? It's tough to say.
The Leafs need a bit of a culture shock. This could be a way to do that while addressing multiple needs. I don't envy Kyle Dubas and Brandon Pridham for having to figure out how to make all of the pieces fit without much room to work every year, but this seems like a summer where there is a little bit more financial flexibility than maybe there should be while paying 4 forwards almost half of your cap space. The window is still open for the Leafs - why not go big this summer?
| POLL | ||
MAI 31 | 322 ANSWERS The Strome brothers could be available in free agency this summer; the Leafs should sign them both Should the Leafs sign the Strome brothers? | ||
| Absolutely | 143 | 44.4 % |
| Not worth it | 110 | 34.2 % |
| Ryan only | 21 | 6.5 % |
| Dylan only | 48 | 14.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
