What the Maple Leafs should do with their free agents

The Maple Leafs have 11 unrestricted free agents (UFA) going into this summer. But which of these players deserve to stay and who should go?

For this blogger, I think most, if not all the Maple Leafs free agents should be shipped out, but I'll explore each player and how they can benefit the team.

Alexei Ponikarovsky - He's a big forward who has produced for the Leafs the last few seasons. He's currently in the top-three for team scoring with 33pts (18g - 15a) in 51 games. For Burke, he's likely a player he would want to keep. The Maple Leafs lack a player like Ponikarovsky in their top-six, which is a big forward who can make it hard on opposing defenders. Inconsistent play has plagued him at times this season, but overall he's a second liner on most NHL teams.

I believe Burke has to ship one of Ponikarovsky or Niklas Hagman (30 years old, $3million dollar cap hit). It's my belief that Burke would prefer to keep Ponikarovsky because of the size and big shot element he can bring to the team. But, I think if Ponikarovsky looks for a 4m dollar contract similar to what Antropov went for, then Burke will move him out at deadline time.

Matt Stajan - He's played well in a top-six position for the Maple Leafs these past two seasons. With the Maple Leafs lacking a true number one center Stajan has split time with Mikhail Grabovski as 1a and 1b centers for the Maple Leafs. With the emergence of Tyler Bozak over the last few games, he may make one of Stajan or Grabovski expendable. While it's unfair to assume Bozak makes either player expendable, one can rest assured that Burke will want 'his' guy, highly sought after college free-agent Tyler Bozak on his roster next season in some capacity. With Bozak's cap hit at 3m, he'll need to make room for him to stick on the roster.

Lee Stempniak, Jamal Mayers, Wayne Primeau, Rickard Wallin: All three of these players are replaceable on the Maple Leafs roster. Stempniak hasn't proven himself to be a top-six forward, thus is expendable. Jamal Mayers is 35 years old and is a prime candidate to be moved at the deadline to a team looking for veteran leadership in a 4th line role. Similar to Mayers, Wayne Primeau will also be a strong candidate to be moved. While he's been good for the Maple Leafs and is a local player he just doesn't make sense to keep around due to his age and durability. The Maple Leafs are better off moving him for a draft pick, and going with a younger 4th line center on the free-agency market. Rickard Wallin has been a non-factor most of the season, and will likely stay with the Maple Leafs for the remainder of the season and leave for Europe in the summer.

Mike Van Ryn, Garnet Exelby, Jonas Frogren: Mike Van Ryn hasn't played all season, and will be let go at seasons end. Garnet Exelby may be a decent commodity at deadline time. At best, he's a bottom pairing, hard-nosed defender which is usually sought after come trade deadline. He won't garner much, but a mid-round draft selection isn't out of the question. He's also a replaceable player on the Maple Leafs. Frogren hasn't played with the Maple Leafs this season, but is a depth defender who likely isn't going to be re-signed by the Maple Leafs. Frogren likely won't command much, if anything on the trade market and may head back to Europe at seasons end.

Vesa Toskala, Joey MacDonald: Both goalies have played very poorly this season, but that doesn't mean there is zero interest in a goalie like Toskala. His cap hit will be approximately 1 million dollars by trade deadline, which will turn some teams off. But if the Maple Leafs are willing to take some salary in return, they may be able to unload Toskala to a team looking for a veteran goalie (i.e. Calgary). MacDonald will likely walk as a free-agent at seasons end.

It's that time again...

The rumour mills are starting to heat up as teams begin to position themselves for playoff success. There wouldn't be any good rumours without a few Maple Leaf player names being thrown around.

And as always, it's the usual trio of players who are rumoured to be on the way out for the Maple Leafs. Tomas Kaberle, Matt Stajan and Alexei Ponikarovsky just can't seem to shake themselves from the attention they receive at trade deadline time, but the question is are they worth moving?

The Maple Leafs currently sit 3rd last in the NHL with 43 points, which puts them ahead of Edmonton (38) and Carolina (35) by a few, important, points. Any other team in the Maple Leafs position would be in full out sell mode, but one key point can't be overlooked: the Maple Leafs do not own a 1st round pick! Forget a top-three selection, they don't have a pick in the entire top 30! Heck, they don't have a pick in the top 60! And while Phil Kessel is an excellent player, and the Maple Leafs can't really worry about what Boston does with their pick, they still need to build for the future instead of the now.

Phil Kessel was a move to compliment both the now, and the future. Whether or not the move was a good one or a bad one is irrelevant at this point. What Brian Burke has to do now is access what he has, and what he needs to obtain in the next few months because next season won't be as forgiving for Burke should he find himself in a similar situation.