Toronto Maple Leafs lose centre depth with departure of Miro Aaltonen
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas confirmed that Miro Aaltonen will be leaving for the KHL next season leaving the team with a hole to fill.
While Miro Aaltonen did not see any time with the Toronto Maple Leafs this past season, many expected him to compete for a job for next season.
The 25-year-old was an integral part of the Toronto Marlies Calder Cup scoring 29 goals, 23 assists for 43 points in 64 games during the regular season while adding another 13 points in 20 games in the playoffs.
Despite getting some nods as a potential fourth line centre next season, it appears as if Aaltonen will be looking for something more prominent overseas.
Todd Diamond, Miro Aaltonen’s agent says he has informed the Toronto Maple Leafs that Aaltonen is returning to the KHL for next season.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 21, 2018
The news certainly comes as a bit of a shock considering Aaltonen would have had a chance to make the Leafs next season.
It appears that while the opportunity might have been there, the Finnish centre will be getting more of an opportunity in the KHL.
Kyle Dubas says losing Aaltonen isn’t ideal, expected him to compete for job but agent said he wanted top line role in KHL. Said it gives Leafs more appeal with other depth free agents though, namely down the middle you’d think.
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) June 22, 2018
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So with Aaltonen out of the picture, the importance of adding a centre this offseason just went up a notch.
As of right now, the team has Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri and newly signed Pär Lindholm on the depth chart. Frederik Gauthier might get another at least to stick with the Marlies with many wondering if the Leafs tender him a qualifying offer.
Earlier this week I wrote a post about potential under the radar free agent targets that the Leafs could look at.
Out of the three players that were mentioned in the article, Derek Ryan might make the most sense to target as he might be the more affordable and dependable option.
Obviously, the attention will be on John Tavares and whether the Leafs get a chance to make a pitch for his services. Don’t expect the Leafs to invest all their time in trying to bring in Tavares with the amount of uncertainty that surrounds him.
The team could also look at making but the centre market is usually pretty thin especially with the Montreal Canadiens looking to acquire a centre as well.
Luckily for the Leafs they aren’t looking for a top line centre which is why the team could go out of the box in order to fill the need. It would be tough to expect Tyler Bozak to return but maybe if his market isn’t what he thought it would be he comes back at a reasonable deal.
Next: Leafs Draft Targets - Final Edition
This is where the resources that Dubas has at his disposal will be a vital advantage as the push to build the Leafs into a contender takes another turn.