Update this morning: Darren Dreger: Sources say that the Toronto Maple Leafs have given Zach Hyman’s agent Todd Reynolds permission to talk with other teams who might be interested in trading for his rights.
Pierre LeBrun: Though it can always change, signs are pointing to Toronto Maple Leafs pending UFA Zach Hyman heading to the open market when free agency gets underway on July 28th.
There is a sizeable gap between the Leafs and Hyman.
TSN: Pierre LeBrun on That’s Hockey yesterday when asked if the Toronto Maple Leafs can afford to re-sign Zach Hyman or if he’ll become a salary cap casualty.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“Yeah, perhaps a casualty in terms of potentially leaving the Leafs because of his true market value is a way I would put it. And listen, as I tweeted earlier on Wednesday, it is subject to change like everything is at this time of year.
But as it stands right now, there is a sizeable gap in the two positions between Zach Hyman’s camp and where the Leafs have been in their talks back and forth over the last month. And because of that, all signs point right now to Zach Hyman dipping his toes into free agency, July 28th. Which by the way doesn’t remove the Leafs from the equation but certainly makes it harder if he gets there.
So, certainly, I would say, if the Leafs are going to up their offer, it would probably happen after the expansion draft, but even with that, I think it’s going to be too hard to keep Hyman. We’ll see.”
Mike Johnston adds.
“This might be one of those cases where neither party is really wrong for not being able to find a deal. I mean Zach Hyman is going to have one chance to cash in big and it’s this summer.
And Just because he’s from Toronto doesn’t mean he should be expected to take some hometown discount when that hasn’t always how this club has operated. So I understand why he would want to go UFA to get as many years and as many dollars as possible. And if he’s looking at, and if someone is going to offer him $5 plus, maybe up to $5.5 million for five or six years, he’s got to look at taking that.
But the Leafs are saying, ‘this guy is 29-years old, and yes he’s been very good with the top line, and yes we love his grit and penalty killing and all the things that he does so well. But, with the way our team is structured, the salaries that we have going out the door, we have to find a way to replace him from within. We can’t give a 29-year old a contract for five and half into his mid-30’s given everything else we have on our team.’
So, I understand why the Leafs have to hold firm as well. It might be just one of those situations where there is no deal to be had for these two parties.”