Fifteen Leafs players are eligible to sign extensions on July 1st
The Maple Leafs have fifteen players that are eligible to sign an extension as of July 1st.
Ten players including Matthew Knies, Joseph Woll and Pontus Holmberg are set to become restricted free agents next summer while five others including Jake McCabe are set to become unrestricted free agents in one year's time. Most or all of the restricted free agents will likely return to the Leafs regardless of if they sign an extension or not, as long as they are tendered qualifying offers next off-season. The likes of Woll, Holmberg and Knies will be looking for considerable raises given the roles they have played and will play for the Leafs and the Leafs will surely want to get them locked up to long-term deals to give themselves an outline for the next couple of seasons as to where they sit cap-wise.
As for the UFAs, the two biggest are Marner and Tavares and both have a degree of uncertainty surrounding their futures with the Leafs. Marner is a likely candidate to be traded this off-season if he's willing to waive his NMC, but he could just play out the final year of his deal leave via free agency if he's unhappy. Meanwhile, Tavares will have to take a considerable pay cut to remain with the Leafs until he retires - that's if Brad Treliving is interested in keeping him around in the twilight of his career.
Here's a comprehensive list of the players who are eligible for an extension and their respective contract statuses next summer.
MITCH MARNER (UFA)
JOHN TAVARES (UFA)
MATTHEW KNIES (RFA)
PONTUS HOLMBERG (RFA)
JAKE MCCABE (UFA)
CADE WEBBER (10.2 (c) RFA)
JOSEPH WOLL (RFA)
RONI HIRVONEN (RFA)
NICK ABRUZZESE (RFA)
TOPI NIEMELA (RFA)
МІККО KOKKONEN (RFA)
WILLIAM VILLENEUVE (RFA)
NICOLAS MATTINEN (UFA)
MARSHALL RIFAI (UFA)
DENNIS HILDEBY (RFA)
Outside of Tavares and Marner, Brad Treliving will have to prioritize locking up McCabe, who was by far the Leafs best defenseman in the playoffs, to an extension as soon as possible.
With a ton of cap space being available next off-season depending what happens with Tavares and Marner, the Leafs will look considerably different than they will even this upcoming season.
| POLL | ||
MAI 25 | 565 ANSWERS Fifteen Leafs players are eligible to sign extensions on July 1st Who is the most important extension to get done? | ||
| Marner | 88 | 15.6 % |
| Tavares | 13 | 2.3 % |
| Knies | 335 | 59.3 % |
| McCabe | 129 | 22.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
