Nick Robertson has signed a new one-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the moves in Toronto may just be getting started. With a team-friendly extension in place, the forward could produce and have a great season, or he could still be traded. Not only that, but the Maple Leafs are now ready to finalize other things they’ve been working on since the fear of losing Robertson to an offer sheet or via an immediate trade is gone.
What does all of that mean and what might be next?
The Robertson Drama Isn’t Necessarily Over
Just because Robertson signed a new deal doesn’t mean his soap opera is done. What this deal does is push the talk of a trade down the road, but it’s not clear that Robertson has changed his mind and is ready to commit to the team long term. In fact, this one-year suggests more than he still wants out than it does he’s decided Toronto is where he wants to be.
A one-year, $875K contract allows him to earn a spot on the roster, produce, and then either make himself more attractive to other teams in a trade or start this process all over again next summer with arbitration rights. This will give the player more leverage, of which he had almost none this time around.
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A one-year contract of this size is going to be attractive to teams who weren’t sure about trading for him before. If Robertson plays well and starts to produce, he could change his mind and want to stay, but he could also up his value on the trade market, making a deal more plausible.
Frank Seravalli writes, “Despite new contract, belief is Nick Robertson is still more likely to be traded than open the season with the #Leafs. There is still solid interest in Robertson. And it’s always easier to trade an asset under contract as opposed to an RFA, which helped him sign.”
The Maple Leafs Are Working on Pacioretty and Hakanpaa
Darren Dreger of TSN noted, “I would expect Pacioretty and Hakanpaa to be next in line as Leafs adds. It was important to get Robertson done to avoid the possibility of an offer sheet.” The suggestion here is that these deals are all but essentially done, the Leafs just needed to take care of their Robertson business first.
Max Pacioretty has been linked to the Maple Leafs (among other teams), but the Leafs appear ready to give him a contract, versus just signing him to a PTO. The Leafs also reportedly signed Jani Hakanpaa in free agency, but injury news slowed down confirmation of the deal. The team wanted to get a second medical opinion before making the announcement official. It may be that Hakanpaa goes on LTIR, but no one really knows for sure what’s going on there.
Steve Dangle tweeted, “According to @PuckPedia, the Robertson deal leaves the Leafs with $400,333 in cap space. If they solve Conor Timmins’ $1.1 million cap hit, they can sign Hakanpaa to his reported $1.5 million cap hit with exactly $333 to spare.” He then added that he’s not sure how the team will fit the Pacioretty deal in, but it sounds like they plan to try.
Will the Maple Leafs Demote Someone?
PuckPedia notes that for the Maple Leafs to sign another player, Toronto would need to place someone in the minors. This will be intriguing because all but Matthew Knies require waivers to be sent down. Knies won’t be going down so that potentially means the team could expose someone and lose them. Or a trade is on the table.
Most people believe Conor Timmins is the odd man out here and will likely be waived. There is also some speculation that a deal could happen to free up cap space, maybe shopping someone like David Kampf to see if there is any value in a return trade there. Kampf is making $2.4 million over the next three seasons and has a modified 10-team no-trade clause.
Needless to say, the talk surrounding Robertson’s being traded will slow down, but other things are going to pop up in Toronto, where the team will need to figure out its cap situation, finalize its roster, and add a couple of additional players that have been linked to the organization.