Maple Leafs Reportedly Shut Down By Boeser In Free Agency

The Toronto Maple Leafs had bigger plans in free agency and that was to sign Brock Boeser, who signed back with the Vancouver Canucks on July 1. Boeser signed for seven years at $7.25 million AAV, but Nick Kypreos said that the Maple Leafs may have offered a higher annual salary, but on a much shorter term than the seven years the sniper got to stay in Vancouver. This likely means around three years and he was smart to take the term, even though the salary cap will be much higher in a few years than it is now.

The Maple Leafs pivoted to Boeser at the last minute after the Florida Panthers re-signed Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand, and Aaron Ekblad right before free agency opened. There weren't too many high-end free agents to target this season and it wasn't ideal timing for Toronto to need someone.

Many will agree that the Maple Leafs have a better chance of winning than the Canucks. While no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup in over 30 years and the Canucks have made it further than the Maple Leafs when making the playoffs over the last 20 years, Toronto just won their division and have made it out of the first round a couple of times now. The Canucks dropped right out of the playoffs and have a questionable future.

The Canucks desperately needed Boeser to stay, so it is a win for them and a loss for the Maple Leafs who have Matias Maccelli as a top-6 replacement for Mitch Marner.

The Maple Leafs will likely make it to the playoffs and have a much better chance than the Canucks who should be on the cusp again. There were plenty of teams interested in Boeser, not just the Maple Leafs, and many were disappointed in him staying in Vancouver. We'll see how things play out for the Canucks, but I don't see Boeser leaving anytime soon at this point unless things go very sour.