Can the Toronto Maple Leafs get a deal done with Patrick Marleau?
With many signings taking place on the first day of free agency, Patrick Marleau remains as one of the biggest targets available that the Toronto Maple Leafs have been pursuing.
Day one is in the books on free agency and according to CapFriendly, 100 signings and $437,594,000 as been handed out. The Toronto Maple Leafs went out and signed Ron Hainsey, Dominic Moore, Curtis McElhinney and AHL players like Colin Greening, Garret Sparks, Vincent Loverde and Chris Mueller. However, there is one top target still left on the market and that is Patrick Marleau.
Throughout the day, it was rumoured that the Leafs were interested in Marleau and his teammate Joe Thornton. It was reported that the San Jose Sharks were able to bring back Thornton but nothing on his linemate. The latest news is suggesting that the Dallas Stars, the Anaheim Ducks, the Sharks and the Leafs were in the running for the 37-year old.
As of right now the Leafs have $3,834,166 in cap space without using LTIR, which would mean the Leafs have roughly $14-million left to spend. Marleau would be the only free agent that the Leafs would considering adding since there are not many other options out there. The question is what Marleau wants in a new deal if he were to sign a new contract.
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The Leafs will likely dedicate roughly $4-million in cap space to restricted free agents Connor Brown and Zach Hyman. There is also the question on whether the Leafs would want to add another defenceman in a trade like a Jason Demers. The 29-year old has a $4.5-million cap hit for the next four seasons which means that if the Leafs make a move for him another contract could be on the way out to give the Leafs some breathing room.
Justin Williams was signed to a two-year $9-million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes which could be what the teams are offering Marleau. It would be tough to expect teams to offer a three years to Marleau considering that contending teams need to cautious of their cap especially the Leafs who will want to sign their star forwards to new contracts. This could make things difficult for the Leafs to get a deal done but since they do not have big commitments for the next couple of years it should not be too difficult.
Next: Leafs sign Dominic Moore to one-year, $1 million deal
There is no telling what will happen with Marleau but if the Leafs were to bring him in it would be a smart addition. He would not only bring some offensive pedigree for the top line but he can also help defensively with his great speed.