TAVARES, BOZAK ON LEAFS’ RADAR
Re-signing Bozak might not sit well with some, but the leafs need depth at centre
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said in the days leading up to the National Hockey League draft that conversations with the Leafs’ own free agents are “always rolling ” and that seems to include Tyler Bozak.
The Leafs wouldn’t mind having Bozak — the longest-serving member of the team — back, as it’s believed the Leafs remained in the mix on Sunday as free agents were able to start talking to other teams.
While the idea of re-signing Bozak might not sit well with some, the Leafs don’t have much depth at centre heading into 2018-19 and if they are unable to land John Tavares, Bozak, who carried an annual average salary of $4.2 million the past five seasons, would have to be kept under consideration. Even with their cap space, the Leafs would be silly to pay the 32-year-old Bozak that kind of money again, though Bozak is attracting interest from other clubs.
Tavares is expected to meet on Monday in Los Angeles with five teams, including the Leafs, Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks, while the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights could be involved. Even with the great interest around Tavares, who is alleged to have been offered an eight-year, Us$88-million contract by the New York Islanders, many think he will remain with the Isles to work with general manager Lou Lamoriello and head coach Barry Trotz in making the Islanders great again.
Once Tavares comes to a decision, there won’t be a ton left on the free-agent market for clubs who seek an impact player up the middle.
Paul Stastny would be an option, but Joe Thornton is past his prime. Players such as Riley Nash and Derek Ryan could bring depth, but the list of possibilities is not long.
On defence, the list of unrestricted free agents includes Mike Green, Thomas Hickey, Ian Cole and John Moore.
The Leafs’ own list also has James van Riemsdyk (say goodbye), Leo Komarov, Tomas Plekanec, Dominic Moore and Roman Polak. And we will have a better idea by late Monday afternoon of the direction Dubas is headed with the Leafs’ five restricted free agents — wingers William Nylander and Andreas Johnsson, centre Frederik Gauthier and defencemen Martin Marincin and Justin Holl.
The deadline for qualifying offers to RFAS is 3 p.m.
Talks on a new contract between Dubas and Nylander’s agent, Lewis Gross, have started, while Andreas Johnsson is on track to compete for a top-six job with the Leafs in training camp.
Where it gets murky, potentially, is with Gauthier, Marincin and Holl, though Gauthier’s situation might be helped with the departure of Miro Aaltonen to the KHL.
Dubas had said during the draft that there were “a few” that the Leafs will not re-sign, but also spoke glowingly of Marincin’s rebound season with the Marlies. It could be that the 26-year-old Marincin would rather give the open market a shot.
The Leafs have youthful depth on defence, which could mean the end for Holl, who turns 27 in January. Holl was one of four Marlies defencemen to play in all 20 playoff games in the charge to a Calder Cup and scored a goal in each of his two games with the Leafs during a brief audition in January and February.