The contractsToronto Maple Leafs sign Jack Roslovic to a two-year, $4 million AAV contract; Colton Sissons to a two-year, $4.25 million AAV contract; Teddy Blueger to a two-year, $2.5 million AAV; Brandon Duhaime to a three-year, $2.6 million AAV contractDom Luszczyszyn on Roslovic: The Maple Leafs didn’t qualify Matias Maccelli and then traded Nicholas Robertson before the free agency period opened. Those two decisions immediately opened some room in Toronto’s top nine, and the Leafs filled one of those spots with Jack Roslovic. That’s … fine?Roslovic isn’t anyone’s definition of a sexy addition. He may be one of the league’s most average players, with a projected Net Rating of minus-0.3. His game leans toward offense, but only slightly, and while he’s a shade below average defensively, it’s not by much. Perfectly mid. And at the price, just $4 million AAV, it’s not a bad bet by Toronto. Perfectly mid probably goes for closer to $4.5 million by my estimation, so there’s some nice surplus value added there for Toronto.But given the Leafs already had perfectly mid with Maccelli, it does feel somewhat odd to essentially reshuffle chairs in the middle six. Roslovic scores a little more and is slightly taller, so that’s something, but he loses ground on the play-driving front. In any respect, it’s mostly a sideways move.The thing to watch here, though, might be the U.S. National Development Program factor. Roslovic was on the team at the same time as Auston Matthews, and if getting a buddy to acquiesce to the superstar with the hope that he stays in two years is part of the play, that obviously adds a little extra juice over Maccelli.A little, but not a lot. And not enough. If the goal is to keep Matthews around, then turning this ship around into a real winner and Roslovic is more of a sideways move than anything over what they already had.The Leafs still have work to do.Grade: B-James Mirtle on Sissons, Bleuger and Duhaime: The Leafs entered free agency with all of the talk surrounding them (understandably) about acquiring a future Hall of Fame goaltender (Sergei Bobrovsky) and a Norris Trophy-winning defenseman (Zach Werenski). But the reality was they had a big pile of holes up front to fill in, too, especially after not qualifying Matias Maccelli and trading Nick Robertson to Pittsburgh for a draft pick over the past few days.
NHL contract grades: Maple Leafs sign four depth players, but don’t get excited about them
The Maple Leafs made four signings on July 1, but none are really going to move the needle.
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