Can anyone answer these 2 questions:
him
Why didn't Toronto resign him? And what does their not signing say about his perceived cost/return ratio? Did Lamoriello, Babcock, and friends let a good one slip through their fingers? I am really having a hard time believing that.
Even though the Leafs are a bad team they simply don't have the room. Even bad teams can have too many players. I'm sure the Leafs would gladly take him over say, Lupul, Greening, or even Laich who they value as a character guy. But the Leafs are anchored by those players...no one will take them. Then you have Matthews and Nylander who weren't on the team last year but all but guaranteed a spot...then tough decisions to make with players like Marner (who only has NHL or OHL), and Leivo (who is NHL or waivers). Then you have players like Hyman, Soshnikov, and Brown who all received lots of time at the end of the year and are pushing for a spot that doesn't even exist. That's also excluding Bozak, JVR, Komarov, Kadri, Martin, Michalek, Holland, etc.
So right there that is 17 players to fill only 12 forward spots. And I'm still probably forgetting a player or two.
We're not trying to fill roster spots. We're actually trying to create them. Yes, we're not anchored down with too many good players, we're anchored down with too many bad players. And while PAP would be welcomed back he's not good enough that to force our hand to make rash moves to create a spot that doesn't exist at all.