Welcome to another edition of NHL Rumours. NHL free agency is just over one week away, and there’s an understanding of who will hit the open market at this point. One player who will likely hit the market is forward Andrew Mangiapane. With the knowledge that Mangiapane could become a free agent on July 1, the Toronto Maple Leafs are reportedly a team that will pursue him.
Leafs To Pursue Mangiapane
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that the Maple Leafs are expected to pursue Mangiapane in July. He also said that the Seattle Kraken could be in the mix, too. However, the Kraken acquired a couple of forwards recently. They traded for left winger Mason Marchment from the Dallas Stars and centre Joe Veleno from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Nonetheless, there’s a possibility that Mangiapane joins his hometown team for the upcoming season. While the Leafs would be the third team he’s represented in his career, he’d be reuniting with a familiar general manager. Toronto general manager Brad Treliving has ties to Mangiapane from their time with the Calgary Flames. The Bolton, Ont. native was drafted by the Flames in 2015 and played there for seven seasons. It makes sense that Treliving would chase Mangiapane after their time together.
The 29-year-old had some solid scoring years in Calgary. He peaked during the 2021-22 campaign when he reached a career high of 35 goals and 55 points in 82 games. Mangiapane had a few more seasons where he broke the 15-goal and 40-point mark. Along the way, he averaged around 16 minutes per game. He is a textbook middle-six scoring winger and secondary scorer.
A Down Year In Washington
After his seven seasons with the Flames, he was traded to the Washington Capitals during the 2024 offseason. He was shipped to the U.S. capital for a second-round pick in the 2025 draft. Although the team had a great season, it was a down year for the winger. The Caps went on to clinch the Eastern Conference in the regular season and advanced to the conference final in the playoffs.
However, despite team success, it wasn’t the season Mangiapane was looking for as a pending unrestricted free agent. In 81 appearances in this past season, Mangiapane scored 14 goals and just 28 points. That’s his lowest point total since his second NHL season, when he recorded 13 points. It didn’t get much better in the postseason for him as he put up one goal and one assist in 10 playoff games.
In Mangiapane’s defence, he didn’t get much playing time under Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery. In the regular season, he averaged 13:02 of ice time, while he averaged 11:13 in the playoffs. According to moneypuck.com, Mangiapane played with line combinations that struggled to score. However, in the goals-against category, his name popped up plenty. The two-way winger only played 11 minutes on the penalty last season, but still scored a shorthanded goal. One of Mangiapane’s secret strengths is being a threat on the penalty kill, as he recorded at least one shorthanded point in the last five seasons.
Main Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
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