Maple Leafs may have made a mistake passing on Jack Roslovic at $1.5 million
Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
The Maple Leafs elected not to sign Jack Roslovic this offseason after being heavily linked, and now they may be coming to regret that decision with his performance.
This offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs had a clear opportunity to add some scoring depth for cheap by signing free agent Jack Roslovic and had been linked to the forward in various reports
He ended up signing a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers instead, and so far has thrived with 14 points in 18 games while giving Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl another offensive weapon who can fire at will.
Toronto's additions this offseason: Dakota Joshua, Nic Roy, and Matias Maccelli have combined for only 17 points and though they aren't typical regulars for scoring, they have certainly shown to be able to do so in the past.
So with the team currently sliding down the standings, is there some regret from GM Brad Treliving that he didn't pull the trigger?
How Jack Roslovic's contract stacks up against the Leafs' bets on Joshua, Roy and Maccelli
Considering he signed for only $1.5-million after reports he wanted a multi-year deal at $3-million, it was clear that by the time he signed with Edmonton, it appears he had to settle for a shorter, cheaper deal than initially expected.
Why Brad Treliving didn't offer him knowing that David Kampf wasn't going to be in the team's future is unknown, but strictly on production versus cap hit so far, Roslovic offers more value than any of those individual bets.
The Maple Leafs trio makes a combined $9.625-million dollars this season, and while there's still loads of time for them to turn it around offensively -- and players like Joshua and Roy have defined roles.
But they aren't going above and beyond those roles like Roslovic is with Edmonton. At his current rate, he'd project to roughly score 25-30 goals over a full season, which would be a career high.
One possible reason Toronto stayed away could be their belief that Nick Robertson would seize a full-time role, something he has started to accomplish recently.
Toronto could have had two players on pace for 20+ goals in addition to their superstars who consistently and reliably put up points.
Instead, the team felt they were good enough but as the results will show you, that's not what's currently happening with the Maple Leafs because, so far, the results suggest their depth bets haven't been good enough.
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