There's one remaining low-risk UFA center who could provide the Leafs with excellent value
With the offseason winding down, teams are gearing up to announce training camp rosters and, for a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs, who may not have many roster spots left and very limited salary cap flexibility, we'll begin to see some late-offseason PTO's signed.
The Leafs already announced one PTO this week in the form of former Pittsburgh Penguins/Anaheim Ducks forward Zach Aston-Reese, but there could be another solid PTO candidate up for grabs in former Carolina/Minnesota/Seattle forward Victor Rask.
Rask played a combined 47 games last season, split between the Wild and the Kraken, producing at near a half-point per game with 21 points over that span in an average of 12:11 of ice-time per game.
Rask is coming off of a 6-year, $24M deal, which carried a $4M AAV. He could be a solid PTO or buy-low candidate on a 1-year deal, who could step into training camp and steal a roster spot. At worst, he's an extra body at camp to help increase the level of competition for the Leafs down the middle on the 4th line.
At this point, the Buds are expected to have the likes of Adam Gaudette, Nick Abruzzese and Alex Steeves competing for that 4C spot. A 29-year-old Rask, who has 506 games of NHL experience (more than the 3 Leafs combined), could not only ramp up the competition, but he could be a pretty productive 4th liner for what might otherwise be a fairly unproductive Leafs 4th line on the scoresheet.
The Buds have virtually nothing to lose by offering Rask a PTO and, if the PTO is successful, they'll have yet another experienced man up the middle with decent size (6'2, 193 lbs) who can chip in offensively and is likely to be a positive value contract if it's at or near the league minimum for one year.
| POLL | ||
11 SEPTEMBRE | 428 ANSWERS There's one remaining low-risk UFA center who could provide the Leafs with excellent value Should the Leafs take a flyer on Victor Rask? | ||
| Yes | 263 | 61.4 % |
| No | 65 | 15.2 % |
| Maybe on a PTO | 100 | 23.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
