Maple Leafs sign Kapanen and Johnsson to multi-year extensions

The Maple Leafs have checked two boxes off their summer to-do list after signing Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen to extensions.

While one notable restricted free agent still remains without a deal, the Toronto Maple Leafs officially inked both Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson to new deals, the team announced Friday.

Kapanen has signed a three-year contract that carries an annual average value of $3.2 million while Johnsson agreed to a four-year deal that’ll pay him $3.4 million a year.

This deal was helped along by the Leafs moving Patrick Marleau and his $6.25 cap hit to the Carolina Hurricanes at the NHL Draft last weekend.

After several years with the AHL’s Marlies, Kapanen made the Leafs out of camp, appearing in 78 games this year and posting 20 goals and 44 points over that span. He was consistently featured as a top-six forward but also killed penalties for Toronto.

Kapanen would also score the game-winning goal in Game 5 against the Bruins, slotting home a cross-crease pass from Johnsson to put the Leafs up 2-0. He’d have trouble with consistency in the tight-checking series against Boston, with just that goal and an assist to show for himself in seven games.

Johnsson has consistently improved every year since being drafted in the seventh round by the Leafs back in 2013. In 2017-18, he tore it up in the AHL, scoring a point per game during the regular season before putting up 24 points in 16 playoff games to help the Marlies to their first championship in franchise history.

He also appeared in nine games during the season with the Leafs, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist in the process. Johnsson was also a part of Toronto’s lineup in the playoffs against Boston, where he had two points while playing in six of the seven games of the series against Boston.

This year, Johnsson bounced up and down the lineup, being given the chance to flank Auston Matthews during various stretches.

Johnsson would round out his first full NHL season with 20 goals and 43 points. He also notched his first career hat trick in November against the Philadelphia Flyers – he notched all three tallies in the first period to boot.

The Leafs have bought a year of Johnsson’s unrestricted free agency, which is why he received a little extra money. As for Kapanen, the three-year pact ensures that he still has an RFA year after this deal expires.

With their pair of young wingers locked up for the foreseeable future, the attention is now solely on Mitch Marner and his negotiations with both the Leafs and, reportedly, other teams.

What do you think of the signings? How do you think each of the wingers will fare next season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.