The Leafs made a huge mistake by allowing this blueliner to walk as a free agent
Prior to the trade deadline last season, former Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas shocked Leafs Nation by trading Rasmus Sandin to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2023 draft (Easton Cowan) and defenseman Erik Gustafsson. The now 31-year-old was brought in to help the second power play unit and add some additional depth for what the Leafs were hoping was going to be a deep playoff run. Gustafsson managed to get into 9 regular season games with the Leafs where he registered four assists before scoring once in two playoff games.
The Leafs had an opportunity to re-sign Gustafsson before he hit free agency, but chose not to do so. Instead, the Leafs signed the much maligned and oft-injured John Klingberg to a 1-year deal worth $4.15M. On the same day, Gustafsson signed a 1-year, $825K deal with the New York Rangers.
Not only has the Klingberg signing not worked out for the Leafs thus far, but Gustafsson is having a bounce-back season in New York. After putting up 42 points in 70 games between Washington and Toronto last season, Gustafsson already has 12 points in 16 games with the Rangers. Klingberg, on the other hand, has just 5 assists in 14 games with the Leafs and is likely headed to LTIR at some point this week due to injury issues.
It has become clear very early in the season that the Leafs made the wrong choice in signing Klingberg over re-signing Gustafsson. Not only could they have had a healthy and more productive defenseman, but they could have also saved themselves $3.325M in cap space that could have been spent upgrading the rest of the blueline and/or forward group.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 21 | 290 ANSWERS The Leafs made a huge mistake by allowing this blueliner to walk as a free agent Should the Leafs have re-signed Gustafsson instead of Klingberg? | ||
| Definitely | 224 | 77.2 % |
| No, no one expected him to play this well | 66 | 22.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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