Leafs Lunch: Pierre LeBrun on the open market value of Toronto Maple Leafs pending unrestricted forward Zach Hyman is compared to what the Leafs may be able to pay him.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“There was almost Hysteria when he got injured the other night. It just goes to show you how much I think Leaf fans appreciate what he brings to the Leafs lineup, as they should. I think he’s one of those players you can’t replace in that lineup. So I said to myself, I wonder what other teams think of him deep down. So I reached out to a half dozen front office executives and also a player agent that wasn’t involved , and just to get their sense of it. And obviously one of the important caveats is what he’s worth on the open market is probably different than what he’s able to sign with the Leafs for cap reasons.
So in a nutshell, I will tell you the range I got back was anywhere from $4.5 million on the low end to high 5’s on the high end. Depending on who I heard from, anywhere from four, to five, to six years in term.
And again, I think that if he stays a Leafs, the number probably has to start with a 4 as an AAV I think. Now again, so many things can change between now and then, but and I certainly think that if he hits the open market he can get something that starts with a 5.
So that’s really what the industry is telling me anyway. And I think that’s fair. As I mentioned on Insider Trading, I’m sure some eyebrows were raised when I said this, but I think Todd Reynolds, the agent for Zach Hyman, is gonna to want to bring in Brendan Gallagher’s contract in the conversation. That doesn’t mean that is where Hyman will end up getting paid at $6.5 million a year, but you always want to bring in the high-end comps and then compare them with the other comps, right?
Gallagher and Hyman are both 28. They both bring in similar attributes in terms of unique skill sets that aren’t replaceable in those lineups. The Habs almost haven’t scored a goal almost since Gallagher left in terms of their forechecking ability etc. The difference is Gallagher is a proven 30 goal scorer and Hyman hasn’t done that yet in the NHL but a lot of the comparisons that other teams were giving me, Josh Anderson at $5.5 . A couple people saying he’s got to get paid more than Iafallo who just signed for $4 million a year. So really, somewhere in that range I think, $4.5 to $5.5 is where I think it’s headed for Zach Hyman.