Insider Reveals ‘The One That Got Away’ From The Maple Leafs In Free Agency

NHL insider Chris Johnston says Matt Roy was a major free agent target for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs’ goal in free agency was to improve their blueline and before free agency opened, they signed Chris Tanev to a six-year deal. Although Toronto also added Stanley Cup-winning defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in free agency to a four-year deal.

However, according to Johnston, he says the original plan for the Maple Leafs was to sign Roy, but he ended up signing with the Washington Capitals.

“I think Matt Roy was a little bit of the one that got away. They were interested in Brady Skjei but that was pretty clear early on that, that wasn’t going to be it. They called on Pesce, but I didn’t get a sense that was ever (close). Roy was a big target,” Johnston said on the SDPN podcast on July 8.

Ultimately, Roy inked a six-year $35.4 million deal with the Capitals as he was one of the top free-agent defensemen in the NHL. Roy is projected to be Washington’s second-line right defense behind John Carlson as he helps solidify the Capitals’ defensive core.

Roy was drafted in the seventh round of the 2015 NHL draft by the Los Angeles Kings and has spent the last six years with the team. Last season, he recorded 5 goals and 20 assists for 25 points in 81 games but is a shutdown defenseman.

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Insider Says Roy Would’ve Changed Maple Leafs Defense

Had Toronto been able to come to terms with Roy, he would have been the Maple Leafs’ second-pairing right-shot defenseman behind Tanev.

Having Tanev and Roy as their top two right-shot defensemen would have made it that much harder to play against.

“If you look at what he does, if you would have added Tanev and Roy, that is significant for your top four. That is literally two guys that play the right side that really can eat minutes and not a lot happens (offensively for the other team) when they are on the ice. You are talking about a different blueline. The Leafs, defensively, it has been a problem,” Johnston added.

However, after losing out on Roy, Toronto signed Ekman-Larsson to be on their second-pairing.

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Toronto GM Happy With Improvement on Defense

In free agency, Toronto went out and strengthened its D-Core which was a goal for Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving.

Although Toronto currently has nine defensemen under contract, including Jani Hakanpaa whose contract is not official, Treliving says he’d rather have too many than not enough.

“We’ve got a group of defensemen. I’d rather have too many than not enough, and we’ll try to sort this out in the coming days. Today’s a day that you can add players, but you build your team over the course of the summer. There are certainly some areas that we still want to address and still want to augment,” Treliving said on July 1.

According to DailyFaceoff, the Maple Leafs defensive lines is projected to be:

• Reilly – Tanev
• Ekman-Larsson – Liljegren
• McCabe – Benoit

The scratches are projected to be Hakanpaa and Conor Timmins.

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