Vegas may have the answer to the Leafs' top-6 prayers - and he's a pending UFA
As the Vegas Golden Knights look to create some salary cap room after using LTIR the entire season last year, there are a few intriguing names that they may not bring back or who they could look to trade. On the trade front, they have a number of RFAs that will be looking for substantial raises such as Nicolas Roy, Keegan Kolesar and Brett Howden, all of whom also have arbitration rights.
For UFAs, there are a couple of interesting names that likely won't be returning in Mattias Janmark and Rielly Smith. Janmark is a versatile forward who can play wing and center in a bottom six role and has been signing 1-year contracts the past few seasons around $2M. Smith, on the other hand, is coming off of a 5-year, $25M deal he signed with Florida before he was moved to the Golden Knights in the expansion draft.
Reports have Smith apparently seeking an average of $4.75M per season, a slight pay cut from his recent contract. The Mimico, ON native may be willing to take less to come home. At 31 years of age, Smith still has plenty of hockey left in him, including an abundance of playoff experience. He's been pretty productive in the postseason as well, having amassed 65 points in 84 career playoff games. This is something the Leafs need a little more of given the lack of secondary scoring in Games 6 and 7 against Tampa.
Should the Leafs be able to clear out some additional cap space by moving Justin Holl, Alexander Kerfoot or perhaps even Jake Muzzin, Smith would fit in nicely in Toronto, and could compliment Tavares and Nylander very well on the second line. He would provide the Buds with another shooter who, like Bunting, plays with a bit of an edge. He is coming off of a year that saw him only play 56 games, but tallied 38 points, so a discounted rate is possible.
| POLL | ||
MAI 31 | 268 ANSWERS Vegas may have the answer to the Leafs' top-6 prayers - and he's a pending UFA Should the Leafs take a run at Reilly Smith in free agency this summer? | ||
| Definitely | 89 | 33.2 % |
| No | 57 | 21.3 % |
| Maybe - it will depend on his ask | 122 | 45.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
