Lou Lamoriello has his work cut out for him.
Certainly that will be the case when the Maple Leafs general manager begins in earnest to make changes to the team’s roster in the off-season.
The glow that was a result of the surprising 2016-17 season will start to fade, if it hasn’t already, when Lamoriello sits down to contemplate what he does next.
The Leafs’ needs are clear. They need help on the blue line — not just depth — and a dependable 20-game-a-season backup goaltender. These areas should be at the top of Lamoriello’s to-do list.
Among Lamoriello’s in-house priorities will be to re-sign three restricted free agents — defenceman Nikita Zaitsev and forwards Connor Brown and Zach Hyman. A seven-year pact with Zaitsev has been rumoured for weeks to be close to being done, while Brown and Hyman (who has arbitration rights) likely will be looking for contracts with an annual range of $2.5 million to $3 million. Restricted free agents with the Toronto Marlies include forwards Brendan Leipsic and Seth Griffith, and goalie Garret Sparks.
And put us in the group that thinks Brian Boyle should be signed, even if Frederik Gauthier is on the cusp of becoming a full-time Leaf.
The opening of free agency on July 1 remains months away, but even today, with the playoff loss to the Washington Capitals fresh, it’s hard to anticipate Lamoriello making a big splash.
There’s not much available, especially at the positions Lamoriello needs to address. Kevin Shattenkirk of the Capitals will be the top prize among defencemen, and though he is 28, a right-handed shot and coveted by many teams, the betting is that he gets overpaid. Is he what the Leafs need when they’ve got Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner? No.
Many of the free-agent defencemen are past their prime. Andrei Markov, Dennis Wideman, Mark Streit, Johnny Oduya and others will be in that category.
Depth defencemen who could be more attractive because they’re in the 26-27 age range include Dmitry Kulikov, Michael Stone and Michael Del Zotto. Karl Alzner, who turns 29 in September, could be a possibility.
The easy thing for Lamoriello to do — and this is not to suggest it’s absolutely going to happen, or it’s what he has in mind — would be to re-sign defencemen Roman Polak and Matt Hunwick, both headed for unrestricted status. Polak, who celebrates his 31st birthday on Friday, could be in a holding pattern until his broken leg heals.
It could be that one of Travis Dermott, Rinat Valiev or Andrew Nielsen has an excellent training camp and takes a serious run to make the jump from the Marlies. But relying on any of the three to have a consistent impact through an 82-game schedule likely would be asking for too much.
In goal, Curtis McElhinney, at the age of 33, went 6-7-0 with a .914 save percentage in 14 games after the Leafs claimed him off waivers from Columbus. Can the Leafs realistically expect McElhinney, also set to go free, to start 20 games and give them a chance to win in each one? Consider that he has started at least 20 games in just three of his NHL seasons since making his debut with Calgary in 2007-08.
Backup goalies on the free-agent market will include Darcy Kuemper, Keith Kinkaid, Peter Budaj, Scott Darling and Anders Nilsson.
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The odds are greater that if Lamoriello improves the roster by the time camp starts, it will have been done via trade. If the GM really wants to make a bold move on the blue line, does he do so by trading, perhaps, one of his young players not named Auston Matthews? We know other teams will be asking about William Nylander and Mitch Marner, if there’s the sense Lamoriello goes hard after a top-notch defender. And it’s not as though the Leafs will be the lone club in the hunt for defensive help.
Trades, of course, are a big part of the game for Lamoriello. There’s no way to undersell the importance, for example, of acquiring goalie Frederik Andersen last June and signing him to a five-year contract.
Lamoriello acknowledged this week that it’s tough to get a read on the trade market, especially in an expansion year.
We know, however, that Lamoriello will be active. To what extent will be determined in the coming months.
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