Maple Leafs Hold Key Advantage in Potential Pursuit of Andrew Mangiapane

With free agency going down on July 1, there are certainly going to be a lot of eyes on the Toronto Maple Leafs and what moves they are going to make this summer.

Names like Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett have been floated about, meanwhile there are rumblings a potential big trade could be coming too.

Though it would be great if the team made a big splash, they could just as well have a great summer by signing some smaller role players who fit into the system and can create a more cohesive unit reminiscent of the game Craig Berube wants.

There were some veteran names who would have made a great addition such as Ryan Donato and Jonathan Toews although with them re-signing with Chicago and announcing a comeback with Winnipeg respectively; even those smaller names are dropping off the list.

Which is why Brad Treliving needs to look to his past to help his future.

Adding a player like Mangiapane would be the perfect low-risk, high-reward player who can bring the passion that Toronto desperately needs.

The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta thinks the Maple Leafs are also gonna be in the running for him, as he mentioned that once free agency opens up to expect them and other teams to be jumping at the opportunity:

It's interesting to hear that the Kraken are involved as well, considering they just acquired Mason Marchment; another target the Maple Leafs were looking at to acquire this summer.

Besides the connection to Treliving (he played under him while he was GM of the Flames), the fact he fits in to the brand new system the team is trying to implement is a huge plus.

He's smaller than your typical Brad Treliving signing but clearly he enjoyed what he saw out of him in Calgary.

Mangiapane, 29, would add a lot of help in terms of Toronto's secondary scoring, and his 14 goals this past seasons would put him 8th on the team; only one behind Nick Robertson.

For his career, Mangiapane has 243 points in 498 games (123G, 120A) and while he isn't gonna run around smashing players, he's a smart defender who has an oddly impressive clutch factor with 19 career game-winners.

He's also not afraid to get nasty either if the situation calls for it, and with Toronto looking to change their DNA, he adds such an improvement overall over names like Robertson and Max Domi.

We'll need to see if Treliving can convince Mangiapane to come over to the Maple Leafs, but if he can; he could be one of the biggest x-factors for the team come 2025-26.