Though the organization should re-sign a few pending free agents, the Toronto Maple Leafs still need to make a lot of adjustments. When it came to free agency, the Toronto Maple Leafs were a formidable squad throughout Kyle Dubas’ tenure. They were quite good at finding deals and seldom overpaid for players. They were skilled at maximizing the value that each of their players offered, but they also knew when to let “x player” go.
Though you could argue that it was a bad idea to let Zach Hyman depart, the organization made the proper choice in replacing him with Michael Bunting for a fifth of the price. Even if Hyman has a deal of $5.5 million and can score 50 goals, I would rather choose a player who can score 20 goals or more and score 60 points for minimal pay than Hyman.
The organization made a huge mistake when current general manager Brad Treliving took over, spending $15 million on players like Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, Ryan Reaves, David Kampf, and John Klingberg when that money could have been used far more wisely. Hopefully, this offseason won’t see the same situation, but given his past performance, it most likely will. As we look at the Leafs’ pending free agents, they should let a number of players go, as this list illustrates, but these three players are the ones the team should re-sign this summer.