Maple Leafs Really Missed the Boat By Not Signing Ex-Kings Defender When They Had the Chance

The Maple Leafs were reportedly in discussions with now Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Roy before he signed a six-year deal with the Metropolitan-leading club, which carries a $5.75M cap hit.

Roy, 29, has been an integral part of the Capitals' surprising season, and as of Monday, leading the team in a number of categories at 5-on-5 as you can see below.

Instead of spending the money on Roy, a 6'1, 205-pound right-shot defenseman that may have properly augmented Morgan Rielly, the Leafs chose to spend significant cap space on a new multi-year deal for journeyman forward Max Domi and the constantly injured .

Not necessarily known for his point production, Roy has 2 goals and 15 points with the Capitals this seaon while averaging 19:38 of ice-time per game. The former seventh-round pick has 88 hits and 72 blocks this season, which would place him third among blueliners in both categories if he was on the Leafs.

While the Leafs had cap constraints to deal with, instead of signing the likes of Hakanpaa, Domi, Pacioretty and Matt Murray, they could have signed Roy and given someone like Fraser Minten more of an opportunity. With teams able to exceed the cap by 10% during the off-season, the Leafs should have jumped on the opportunity to sign the for LA Kings blueliner and figured out the rest of the roster later.

Had Brad Treliving and the Leafs done that, there may not be a conversation about the Leafs needing to find a suitable partner for Rielly once again, ahead of the trade deadline.

Not only that, but a defense corps that contained the likes of Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jake McCabe, Matt Roy, Conor Timmins, Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers, which may have been one of the deepest bluelines in the NHL. Hindsight is always 20/20, but this just seems like a missed opportunity.