Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is not only looking for ways to upgrade his club before the February 24th trade deadline, but is also trying to plan for next season with most of his defense corps becoming either restricted or unrestricted free agents next summer.
In late December, the Leafs locked up blueliner Justin Holl for another three years (at $2 Million AAV), and on Friday the club signed depth defenseman Martin Marincin to a one-year, $700,000 contract extension.
The 27-year-old Slovakian has split time between the NHL and AHL this season, with no points in 13 games for the Leafs, and an assist in five games with the Toronto Marlies. Marincin joins Holl and Morgan Rielly as defensemen under contract for 2020-21. Travis Dermott’s entry-level contract will expire on July 1, while Cody Ceci, Jake Muzzin, and Tyson Barrie all become unrestricted free agents.
Extending Marincin provides a bit of insurance for Toronto next year, given that it is expected that rookies Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren will be penciled into the NHL lineup and that with their current cap picture, the Leafs may only be able to afford to re-sign one of their pending UFA’s. The signing is due mostly to head coach Sheldon Keefe’s familiarity with Marincin during his time in the American Hockey League, and the club feeling comfortable that they have an experienced blueliner who will clear waivers and be held in reserve and be capable of filling a limited role.
Anything more than a depth defensive role for Marincin would be unadvised for the Leafs, as the lanky blueliner has proved throughout his five seasons in Toronto that he is a limited player prone to defensive miscues.
Dubas next proactive moves may be attempts to lock up Dermott, along with forwards Pierre Engvall, Ilya Mikheyev, Dmytro Timashov, and Frederik Gauthier well before the summer, as they did with Trevor Moore, Nic Petan and ex-Leaf Calle Rosen during last season.
Leafs fans are going to genuinely love Nick Robertson. I know there was the SDA hype train, and he’s having a strong season himself but man oh man is Robertson fun to watch. pic.twitter.com/8CvSSfEMC1
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