The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a bit of a jam. There are 17 days before the opening of the free agent market, and there are still 20 UFAs and RFAs on their roster.
With their tight salary cap, it's expected that they won't be able to sign them all.
There's also the whole situation with Auston Matthews and William Nylander, whose contracts will end next year.
But back to this year. Some free agents have generated more interest than others, such as Ilya Samsonov, Noel Acciari, Alexander Kerfoot, Michael Bunting, Ryan O'Reilly, and David Kampf.
It seems unlikely that they can keep them all. Even if they trade away assets to gain cap flexibility, it will never be enough to keep them all.
Frank Seravalli revealed that the Leafs will probably lose two interesting free agents: Ryan O'Reilly and Michael Bunting.
Brad Treliving has some tough choices to make, but let's hope he doesn't waste too much time on lost causes.
Also, negotiations with Matthews will probably dictate how the rest of the payroll will look.
As seen on Maple Leafs Daily -
Insider points to two pending UFAs in Toronto who are more likely to go to the open market
POLL | ||
Who would you rather keep in Toronto? | ||
O'Reilly | 1400 | 82.5 % |
Bunting | 296 | 17.5 % |
List of polls |