With Mitch Marner departing for the desert, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a giant hole on the right side of their top line. For now, it appears the competition to play with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies is wide open, and will be a storyline to follow closely at training camp.
William Nylander could certainly get a look with the Leafs dynamic duo, but in an ideal world, he stays on the second line to continue to ride shotgun with John Tavares. The two have been playing together for several years now, they feed well off each other, and it helps provide more balance to the Leafs’ lineup, allowing for Tavares and Nylander to receive better matchups when it comes to opposing lines and defensive pairs.
Roughly a week into free agency, general manager Brad Treliving has $4.9 million in cap space to work with. Max Pacioretty continues to sit on the free-agent market, and while there’s been some rumblings about a return to Toronto, it’s no slam dunk as he could be signing elsewhere to finish off his career. Nick Robertson is a restricted free agent without a contract, and is likely looking for something around $1.5-2 million AAV. Pacioretty could potentially get a look if he re-signs, however, at this point it’s tough to say Robertson would be provided an opportunity to play his off wing, on the top line. His future looks blurry in Toronto, but that’s a story for another day.
As far as other options go for right wingers, Calle Jarnkrok has been given a shot in the past to play with Matthews, and while there’s been flashes of brilliance and some decent streaks, Jarnkrok fell off the map to end last season, never fully getting up to speed after missing a significant portion of the season due to injury. There’s been some chatter about a potential trade involving Jarnkrok, which would mean he’s either getting moved for a B-level prospect to clear cap space, or he’s getting thrown in a package for a top-line winger who makes around $4-6 million AAV, to help balance out the finances of the deal and keep the Leafs under the salary cap.
Max Domi, Bobby McMann and newcomer Matias Maccelli, at this point, seem to be the three most likely to be battling it out for the minutes. Domi seems like the natural fit. He’s played there before, distributes the puck on an elite level, and he won’t be flustered with more responsibilities. He complements Knies and Matthews very well and their chemistry has been on display before. Domi and Matthews are very close off the ice, which has certainly translated on the ice with success in the past.
Maccelli has a shot at playing second line left-wing minutes alongside Tavares and Nylander, and McMann is perfectly suited for the third line left wing slot. If McMann can become just a little bit more physical, and play with a little bit more of an edge, he could take his game to new heights in a checking role under Craig Berube. We’ll see how that all plays out in training camp, as McMann was not on his game throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and he’ll have to earn back the trust from management, and the coaching staff.
As far as the free-agent class that’s left unsigned after five days of the market being open, it’s thin. Very thin. Jack Roslovic doesn’t seem like a good fit. Same can be said for Victor Olofsson and Jeff Skinner. The trade route seems much more likely at this point, however, with limited assets to move, and two players in David Kampf and Jarnkrok who the Leafs would like to rid themselves of, Brad Treliving is going to have to get as creative as possible to upgrade his top line heading into next season.
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