Toronto Maple Leafs sign Connor Carrick to one-year deal

The Toronto Maple Leafs have begun work on re-signing some of their impending free agents, with Connor Carrick agreeing to a one-year deal extension with the team.

A busy offseason continued for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as they brought back defenceman Connor Carrick after agreeing to a one-year extension.

The new deal for Carrick will see him earn $1.3 million – a jump up from the $750,000 cap hit he carried for the previous two seasons.

Prior to signing Carrick, the Leafs had 16 free agents – with the American right-handed defenceman a restricted free agent before agreeing to terms.

The signing might be somewhat of a surprise to Leafs fans, with Carrick seemingly finding himself out of favour during the second half of the most recent campaign.

Carrick played just 47 regular season games for the Leafs last season and failed to make a single appearance in their first-round series against the Boston Bruins.

His average playing time over the course of the season was also lower than his previous campaign in Toronto, dropping from 16:20 to just 15:08.

Carrick picked up 12 points in the process, but found himself unable to keep Roman Polak out of the line-up.

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The Leafs have questions to address on the blueline and retaining Carrick gives them some much-needed depth and continuity heading into the 2018-19 season.

Carrick was originally drafted by the Washington Capitals 137th overall in the 2012 draft, before being traded to Toronto in February 2016.

The deal that brought Carrick to Toronto also saw the team receive a second round pick and Brooks Laich, with Daniel Winnik and a fifth round pick (originally Anaheim’s) being sent the other way.

The 24-year-old defenceman will be hoping to work on retaining his spot in the Toronto Maple Leafs line-up, and the one-year deal may represent his last chance to stick around with the team.

The low cost of the deal could potentially allow the team to use him as trade bait if it is clear he isn’t able to cement his spot.

If, however, Carrick is able to earn a spot once more and perform to a level that he has shown on occasion in a Leafs jersey, then this will be a positive deal that could benefit the team in their playoff chase.

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What do you think Toronto Maple Leafs fans? Are you happy to see Carrick return to the team? Or would you rather the Buds have used the money to land other players?