The Toronto Maple Leafs went through the opening days of free agency without adding a player who could make up for the departure of Mitch Marner. GM Brad Treliving made a move to acquire playmaking winger Matias Maccelli from Utah, but has admitted in interviews that he is likely looking to replace Marner in the aggregate, having two or three players make up for his offense.
The Leafs may be willing to start the season giving rookie Easton Cowan or the more experienced Nick Robertson a chance at a top-six role, but if Treliving does not feel that either are capable of playing higher in the lineup, then an answer to their dilemma will either come from the few options left in free agency or in the trade market. Over the next few weeks, we will look at a few players who might be fits for one reason or another for Toronto.
Jeff Skinner
The Toronto native is clearly on the shady side of his long NHL career. Skinner spent the first eight years in Carolina and the next six with the Buffalo Sabres before being bought out of the final three years of his eight-year, $72 million contract last June.
The 33-year-old signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Edmonton Oilers, with the prospect of playing in the top six with Leon Draisaitl, but that ended up not happening, as Skinner played mostly a bottom-six role and scored 16 goals in 72 games. The Oilers gave the veteran winger his first playoff start in the first round against the LA Kings, but after one game ,he was scratched and did not get back into the lineup until replacing injured former Leaf Zach Hyman late in the Dallas series and in three games in the Stanley Cup Final.
It has long been rumored that one of the motivations for Skinner signing a long-term deal with the Sabres was to be close to his family in Toronto. Although he does not fit the more physical model that GM Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube appear to be seeking, the Leafs are looking for a scoring winger to replace some of the offense that left town when Marner signed with Vegas.
With his limited success in Edmonton, it is likely that Skinner will not be able to demand a high salary and will likely be signing a one-year deal for much less than he made last season. That could be the type of low-cost, low-risk deal that Treliving is looking for.
