Maple Leafs Have Bargain Bin Options In Free Agency

With the free agent market opening in less than 12 hours and teams setting up shop for who they want to sign, it is a good time to look at noteworthy names for the Toronto Maple Leafs that didn’t receive a qualifying offer (QO) or that were recently bought out by their respective teams.

This signing would be low-risk, high-reward, and it could be something that Skinner welcomes because the Maple Leafs are in the same division as the Sabres, so he can show them they shouldn’t have given up on him. In terms of a contract, typically someone who is a buyout candidate tends to sign for significantly less because they were just bought out and got a chunk of money. In Skinner’s situation, he was making $9 million per season, and having been bought out for the remainder of that deal, it would pay him $27 million, which could mean he is willing to sign for $1-1.5 million for a chance to play in meaningful games towards the end of the season and suit up for his first playoff game.

A few other names that could be of interest to the Maple Leafs are Blake Lizotte (Los Angeles Kings), Erik Brannstrom (Ottawa Senators), and Kailer Yamamoto (Seattle Kraken); all three weren’t given a QO. Ultimately, it’ll depend on what happens as the opening day of free agency comes to an end, but as of right now, the Maple Leafs will likely be big-name hunting, and Skinner may be the one on this list that they attempt to sign later today. Regardless, it will be fun to see what the organization does over the next few weeks.