The Toronto Maple Leafs are reportedly in on Stanley Cup winner Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but there are some wild numbers being thrown around, both in term and dollars.
The Leafs' biggest need coming into this summer was on the blueline. Heading into Monday's free agent frenzy, the Leafs' defense corps currently consist of Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, Simon Benoit and Timothy Liljegren.
There is still hope that the Leafs and Chris Tanev will come to terms on a deal prior to the start of free agency, but with Kevin Weekes' report on Sunday evening suggesting that Tanev's cap hit could be as much as $5M per season, there's definitely some cause for concern. Now, we can add concerns over Ekman-Larsson's potential contract as well.
Listen, I'm completely fine with the Leafs pursuing a deal with Ekman-Larsson, who just won a Stanley Cup with Florida this year. However, $4M is entirely too much money for what very well may be a 3rd pairing defenseman.
