Speculation: Fishing for value - unqualified RFA's

[TheProspector]

There are a tonne of good players here. Hartman and Cousins are the most obvious. Jaskin, Ryan, Leipsig, Beaulieu, Rattie, and Granlund are also interesting.

A lot of head scratchers in this group.

 

[The Shrike]

Imagine loosing marner for 4 of these guys lol

With the cap space freed up, that could be Panarin and 4 of those guys for Marner.

 

[The Iceman]

List Of Players Who Will Not Receive A 2018 Qualifying Offer

A quick check back to see who was available last year shows there is value to be had.

Mrazek, Lehner, and Nordstrom was a valuable contributer in the playoffs for Boston, RHD DeMelo had a decent year for Ottawa, Duclair.

 

[Looney Toonies]

Brett Ritchie would be a decent pickup for the folks who want to insert some jam in the lineup.

 

[The Nic]

It sure seems to me that the list of players fighting for NHL minimum contracts in this coming season is uncommonly long... and it seems to contain many more good players under the age of 30 than it generally does. Maybe the smaller than expected salary cap increase... or the large number of superstar RFAs seeking big deals... I don't know. It is pretty obvious that the money is getting re-allocated to the best players... with a lot of the depth guys getting squeezed pretty hard. Maybe, with strong pro scouting and a growing reputation for being able to improve the skills of their players, the Leafs can capitalize on this phenomena somehow. From the list above, I like Beaulieu, Morrow, Jaskin and Ryan... but also others like Carpenter, Heed, Petrovic, Hutton and Acciari as well. The situation seems ideal for a team that may end up needing to fill 3 or 4 rosters spots at $ 700K each... of replace some guys graduating from the Marlies at the same price. Think of those 3 or 4 guys busting their asses on every shift... much as Tyler Ennis did last year.

 

[Nylander88]

From that list I went with Hartman, Ritchie, Lazar in that order. I think Hartman would be a great fit up and down the lineup. 4th line grinder or the odd shift in the top 6 when needed to play a Hyman type role. Ritchie would be great for the young guys. Like a Matt Martin but at league minimum instead of 2.5 like Martin made. And Lazar because at league minimum could prove to be an upgrade on Gauthier and we need some cheap center depth in case of injury.

 

[Mess]

There are players here of unqualified RFAs on other teams, which are much better than what our Leafs have in the system.

So the answer is yes there are players that could help the Leafs.