Interesting UFA Remains Available and His Speed Could Be a Real Asset to the Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to find a replacement for Mitch Marner's spot in the top-6, and despite adding Nicolas Roy, Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli, it's not quite enough to walk into the new season feeling good about their overall offensive game.

The free agent pool is also very shallow with just a few recognizable names that could actually make a difference. While the Leafs reportedly have some level of interest in forward Jack Roslovic, another player they could look to target is the speedy Andreas Athanasiou.

The Woodbridge, Ontario local is still searching for a new home after having not been retained by the Chicago Blackhawks with 2 underperforming seasons under his belt in the Windy City. Signed to a 2-year deal that was worth $8.5 million, Athanasiou only played in 36 games, where he tallied just 3 goals and 10 points.

He did score at a near point-per-game pace for the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL with 11 goals and 27 points in 30 games this past season, but he found himself in the press box quite often for a rebuilding Hawks team.

While the 30-year-old has struggled in recent years, he is only 2 years removed from a 20-goal and 40-point campaign in 2022-23 and has a 30-goal season under his belt from his time in Detroit when he also tallied 54 points during the 2018-19 season.

Outside of the last 2 seasons, Athanasiou has 116 goals and 222 points in 422 across 7 seasons and would be a solid tertiary scoring option with blazing speed, which would be beneficial in Craig Berube's north-south system.

While players like Nicolas Roy, John Tavares, and Scott Laughton are not known for their foot speed, Athanasiou would be able to help the Maple Leafs in that department, considering he's still one of the fastest players in the league.

Bringing him in on a low-term, low AAV deal to prove he still has something left in the tank would be a beneficial move for both parties and it could give the Leafs another underrated weapon to deploy in the bottom half of their lineup.