Three Intriguing Questions For The Maple Leafs Before Training Camp Begins

As the opening of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ training camp looms later this month, there are big questions out there for the Original Six franchise. Here are three big questions for the Leafs in the coming weeks:

1. What Happens With Rasmus Sandin?

The only roster player still without a new contract, Sandin is a restricted free agent who is looking for a contract better than the one fellow youngster Timothy Liljegren got when he signed a two-year, $2.4 million contract in June. However, the Leafs currently are nearly $1.5 million over the salary cap ceiling, and Toronto GM Kyle Dubas has to figure out a way to retain Sandin’s services. Sandin’s growth arc hasn’t been linear, but management still believes in him and doesn’t want to deal him or have him accept an offer sheet from another franchise.

Dubas might choose to wait until training camp has begun before getting down to brass tacks with Sandin’s agent, and a trade of another veteran D-man – hello, Justin Holl – may eventually open up enough cap space to get Sandin in the lineup. But a long-term extension for Sandin doesn’t appear to be the most likely scenario; instead, a two-or-three-year deal could be there for Sandin.

The Leafs’ cap concerns are well-known by everyone at this point, and they’ve got to keep costs down, at least, in the short-term. Sandin knows this, but he’s now involved in a staring contest with Dubas. It’s probable the player blinks first, and Sandin stays in Blue and White.

2. How Do Toronto’s Depth Signings On ‘D’ Fit In?

After Dubas got veteran Mark Giordano to agree to a huge hometown discount this season, and after Liljegren re-signed with the Buds, Toronto’s defense corps has ample depth and competition on the back end. Whether or not Sandin returns, Dubas has used the little cap space he had left on signing a pair of veteran NHL defensemen, Jordie Benn and Victor Mete, to serve as understudies for the Leafs’ top-six group of D-men.

The 35-year-old Benn and 24-year-old Mete are at different stages in their NHL careers; Benn is now on his fifth NHL team in as many seasons, while Mete has bounced between Montreal and Ottawa in the past two seasons, and still is trying to establish himself as a full-time NHLer. It’s probable that both Benn and Mete will begin this coming season in the American League with the Toronto Marlies, but as soon as there’s an injury at the NHL level – or if, as expected, Holl is traded for cap space – we could see one of or both Benn and Mete playing on the Leafs’ third defensive pairing. Depth matters to all NHL teams, and it’s signings like this that could help sustain Toronto through a bite from the injury bug.

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3. How Long Will Holl, Kerfoot Last In Toronto?

For months now, there has been speculation Dubas will have to trade one or both of Holl and forward Alex Kerfoot. It’s not unfounded speculation, considering the reality that both veterans are in the last year of their current contracts, and both Holl (at a $2.0 million salary cap hit) and Kerfoot ($3.5 million) make enough money to give the Leafs significant cap space if they dealt them.

It’s difficult to envision Kerfoot or Holl agreeing to contract extensions in the coming weeks or during the regular season, and although both veterans have modified no-trade clauses, they surely must know the writing is on the wall for them in Toronto. Dubas needs to find a trade partner that will satisfy the competitive needs of Holl and Kerfoot, and at the same time, give the Leafs the cap space they so desperately need.

Absent some injury to a key Leafs component, if both Kerfoot and Holl begin the season in Toronto, it will be a surprise to many. It’s really a question of if, not when, they part ways with the Leafs.