If GM John Chayka and the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to make an offer sheet, what range of players are they eligible to make an offer to, and what players could fall into that category?
The deadline for NHL teams to give qualifying offers to their RFAs has passed. For the Toronto Maple Leafs, Matias Maccelli was the only RFA not to receive a qualifying offer.
But looking ahead to July 1, multiple RFAs around the NHL require new contracts and are at risk of getting an offer sheet.
If the Maple Leafs and GM John Chayka were interested in making an offer sheet of their own, they wouldn't have many options to look after. However, Toronto is still eligible to make an offer to a certain range of players if the organization wishes.
The Maple Leafs have just one of their own draft picks in the first three rounds of the 2027 NHL draft. To make an offer sheet, a team must surrender their own picks in order to make a potential deal for an RFA.
Because Toronto only has its own second-rounder for 2027, the range of annual salary it can offer an RFA is between $2,387,833 and $4,775,666.
Therefore, the Leafs aren't able to get a star player out of an offer sheet, considering they're only able to give up their own second-round pick. But for that salary, that's enough to bring in a player to play in the middle of the lineup.
It's worth mentioning that because that range isn't very significant, it'd be very easy for the team receiving the offer sheet to match the offer.
Nonetheless, some players who could fall into that category include forwards Barrett Hayton, Zachary Bolduc, Hendrix Lapierre, defensemen Justin Barron, Spencer Stastney, Kevin Korchinski, and potentially some others.
Even goaltenders Arturs Silovs and Jet Greaves are RFAs and could maybe fall in line for the available price.
Offer sheets don't happen very often, but they can make a big difference when executed. For example, the Edmonton Oilers were sent back in terms of their depth when they lost Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to the St. Louis Blues in two offer sheets. Now, those two players have grown into key components of the Blues.
It's not a typical strategy, but Chayka has been direct with his moves so far as the Leafs GM, including that Joseph Woll trade with the Philadelphia Flyers and the acquisition of Darren Raddysh from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Who's to say that he wouldn't look down the route of making an addition through an offer sheet?
See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
