https://twitter.com/LeafsPR/status/931613973069230080
Apparently he likes not playing.
Apparently he likes not playing.
Leivo signs 1-year extension
- Thread starter CarltonTheBear
- Start date
bustaheims
Active member
He must really love the city/his teammates/earning money for practicing but not having to play/know something we don't.
Leivo could have taken his chances as a free agent but there's no guarantee he would have been able to get a contract with another team. He'd be 25 years old at that point and would almost certainly have less than 82 NHL games under his belt. Even if a team did like him his salary probably would have been for closer to league minimum than the $925k he got from the Leafs. He also would have had to impress a whole new coaching staff, which isn't easy. And worst-case scenario if he ever does get waived and have to go play in the AHL again playing for the Marlies is a pretty big step up from the majority of the AHL teams (arguably every other one really).
So I guess this sorta makes sense for him.
So I guess this sorta makes sense for him.
The other thing to keep in mind is that there has been talk of other teams sniffing around the Leafs depth. Having him potentially be a UFA this summer would have really hurt his trade value.
Coco-puffs
New member
CarltonTheBear said:
Both your posts were spot on. I was going to come on and say this in particular. I do think it helps his trade value, should the Leafs feel its time to move him.
L K
Active member
As much as I would like to see Leivo play, he's not a game-changer. He likely wasn't going to get more than this on the UFA market either and may have ended up without a guaranteed deal in the offseason anyway.
Coming into the offseason this year the Leafs have:
JVR - 4.25M
Bozak - 4.2M
Komarov - 2.95M
Gleason - 1.3M (Sigh)
Polak - 1.1M
Moore - 1.0M
Fehr - 0.975M
Cowen - 0.75M
Marincin - 0.225M
Total 16.75M coming off the books. Bozak/JVR/Komarov obviously play fairly important roles on the team but that's still a decent amount of production negative money coming off the books too.
It wouldn't be surprising to see Soshnikov replace Komarov, Kapanen replace JVR and Levio continue to be the 13th forward next year. They are still likely missing another center unless they intend to move Nylander up the middle and then maybe you just internally replace Nylander with Leivo.
Nylander, Soshnikov and Carrick are the only two prominent RFAs this offseason but with Marner, Gardiner, Matthews and Borgman next offseason money will have to be set aside.
Nylander at 6M if he continues to have a so-so year? Soshnikov at 2-2.5M similar to Brown/Hyman depending on his role for the rest fo the year? That would leave the Leafs with about 10M to replace Bozak and a 7th defenseman/upgrade the defense with the same payroll.
I would probably look to move Carrick at the deadline this year if possible. You could arguably promote Dermott or bring Rosen back up if the Leafs didn't upgrade the defense with a trade and I don't think he's been reliable enough to be fussed about losing.
Coming into the offseason this year the Leafs have:
JVR - 4.25M
Bozak - 4.2M
Komarov - 2.95M
Gleason - 1.3M (Sigh)
Polak - 1.1M
Moore - 1.0M
Fehr - 0.975M
Cowen - 0.75M
Marincin - 0.225M
Total 16.75M coming off the books. Bozak/JVR/Komarov obviously play fairly important roles on the team but that's still a decent amount of production negative money coming off the books too.
It wouldn't be surprising to see Soshnikov replace Komarov, Kapanen replace JVR and Levio continue to be the 13th forward next year. They are still likely missing another center unless they intend to move Nylander up the middle and then maybe you just internally replace Nylander with Leivo.
Nylander, Soshnikov and Carrick are the only two prominent RFAs this offseason but with Marner, Gardiner, Matthews and Borgman next offseason money will have to be set aside.
Nylander at 6M if he continues to have a so-so year? Soshnikov at 2-2.5M similar to Brown/Hyman depending on his role for the rest fo the year? That would leave the Leafs with about 10M to replace Bozak and a 7th defenseman/upgrade the defense with the same payroll.
I would probably look to move Carrick at the deadline this year if possible. You could arguably promote Dermott or bring Rosen back up if the Leafs didn't upgrade the defense with a trade and I don't think he's been reliable enough to be fussed about losing.
herman
Well-known member
I'm with Carlton on his read.
No guarantees with UFA (see the ordeals Winnik and Franson went through as proven useful players). Heck, PA Parenteau, who scored over 10 goals last season, is now toiling in the KHL. Sure, these are older examples, but they're all better than Leivo (albeit in different ways).
This gives Leivo at least another year of peace of mind (with a 33% raise for basically sitting quietly!), as even he can see the UFA list in the forward ranks is quite large (a la Aaltonen's reason). I can see the Leafs looking favourably on Leivo for taking 2 years for the team's benefit before his own and rewarding him accordingly with opportunities to perform.
No guarantees with UFA (see the ordeals Winnik and Franson went through as proven useful players). Heck, PA Parenteau, who scored over 10 goals last season, is now toiling in the KHL. Sure, these are older examples, but they're all better than Leivo (albeit in different ways).
This gives Leivo at least another year of peace of mind (with a 33% raise for basically sitting quietly!), as even he can see the UFA list in the forward ranks is quite large (a la Aaltonen's reason). I can see the Leafs looking favourably on Leivo for taking 2 years for the team's benefit before his own and rewarding him accordingly with opportunities to perform.