Maple Leafs Could Land Their Own Anton Lundell-Type Forward in Free Agency

There's a lot of talk about who the Maple Leafs could add this summer to their team as they try and change up the way they've done things for the past decade.

Big names like Brad Marchand are potential candidates to bring that change, but so too could some other role players.

With Toronto going towards a more gritty and defensive approach, they could use someone like Florida's Anton Lundell; a smart, savvy forward who can play solid defensively, help offensively and be the role player that helps teams win championships.

While they can't necessarily get Lundell from the Panthers barring a trade, they can focus on adding Pius Suter in free agency, someone who isn't the flashiest, but sure is efficient.

He's an extremely good penalty killer, wins face-offs at a respectable rate, and while his production this season was due to an increased role, he's still effective offensively.

Suter, 29, is able to consistently give a team 15-20 goals a season, with a ton of discipline (another sore spot Toronto needs help with) and has an underrated clutch factor with 13 of his 82 career goals being game-winners.

This past season, Suter ended up skating in 81 games and registered 46 points (25G, 21A) with only 18 PIM in 17:21 TOI with the Canucks; he has 162 career points in 364 games (82G, 80A) split with Chicago, Detroit and Vancouver.

Suter would not necessarily be given the same workload he had this past season in Vancouver, but could easily slide into Toronto's everyday 3C role while Scott Laughton gets pushed down to the 4C.

Depending on what Toronto does with Max Domi and Bobby McMann this summer, if those two stick around then it would be a solid trio with Suter in the mix. He can help out immensely on defense, while also being able to chip in thanks to Domi's playmaking.

Plus it allows Domi to focus less on defense being in the 3C and lets him hopefully become more offensive.

There's a question of his cost, and with some reports thinking he might get upwards of $4.5-5M per season, but for a true 3C at a relatively young age and a completely different type of player they're used to; that's a worthy cost.

Toronto could sign him for four years at $18-million ($4.5M AAV) and secure themselves at least a Top-9 player for the next few years, and has the potential to slide up and down the lineup where necessary.

That deal is only going to appreciate more as the cap rises, and he certainly would play up to his deal more than Domi has thus far.

It's not the exact same as bringing in Anton Lundell, but it's certainly the next best thing, and if Toronto is trying to emulate the Panthers; it's a pretty good start.