The Toronto Maple Leafs are predicted to sign a longtime hated forward in free agency.
The website PuckPedia has a tool called PuckGM which allows users to propose trades and signings. One user predicted the Maple Leafs would sign Brad Marchand in free agency, while also losing Mitch Marner.
The user has the Maple Leafs signing Marchand to a three-year $18.75 million deal which works out to $6.25 million per season.
Toronto signing Marchand would be a bit of a surprise given he is a hated player by the fanbase. However, he would be a middle-six forward who would add some grit to the lineup and is a proven winner. The lack of grit has been a common complaint from Maple Leafs fans and Marchand would help fix that.
Marchand has recorded 21 goals and 26 assists for 47 points in 61 games with the Boston Bruins this season. He was traded to the Florida Panthers at the deadline but has yet to play in a game due to an injury.
Marchand is in the final year of his eight-year $49 million deal.
Marchand Praised the Maple Leafs
Despite Marchand being a thorn in the side of the Maple Leafs for years, he did share some praise for them earlier this season.
Marchand has been a villain against Toronto and has always trash-talked them. But, on January 4, Marchand heaped praise on the Maple Leafs and their roster.
“They’re an extremely good team this year,” Marchand said. “They’ve been building for a while now and have really figured out the right way to play, the way they stick up for each other, compete for each other. They’re a different brand of hockey right now.”
Although Marchand is hated by Maple Leafs fans, he was linked to Toronto ahead of the deadline. NHL analyst Bryan Hayes of TSN mentioned Marchand as a good fit for the Maple Leafs.
“I think he’d be a good fit anywhere. I think Brad Marchand, everything he represents — there isn’t a playoff team, a Cup-contending team in the league that couldn’t make sense of putting him in the lineup,” Hayes said. “He could play first line, second line — maybe this late in his career, depending on where he goes, he’s on the third line — but he will have an impact wherever he goes, just based on the nature of who he is. He’s a spark plug.”
Marchand helped the Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011.
Maple Leafs Competing for Top Spot in Atlantic
Toronto will almost certainly be in the playoffs but the big push right now is winning the Atlantic division.
The Maple Leafs, Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning are all in contention to win the division. Toronto picked up back-to-back wins over Calgary and Colorado, and star defenseman Jake McCabe says those were big for the team’s confidence.
“Just build,” McCabe said. “Just build our confidence. Momentum is a big thing in this league. You know, when you lose a few in a row, sometimes that confidence just isn’t quite there like it was when you were winning three in a row. So, (this can) kind of catapult us here the rest of March. And then in April, we obviously get into crunch time, as we’ve been talking about here the last couple weeks. So, a big two games on the road here.”
Toronto is currently 41-24-3 and in second place in the Atlantic Division.
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