NHL Analyst Reveals Two Key Factors Which Could Hold Up Maple Leafs' Free Agent Signing

“I’ll agree the Leafs have more depth. Their fourth line should be as good as many third lines, big and able to score a bit,” McGran wrote. “As for Roslovic, that’s a bit of a wild card. He’d obviously push someone out of a job and they already have too many forwards.

“I’d say if the price is right — i.e. under $2 million on a one-year deal — they might bite. Otherwise, they’ll go with what they have.”

Roslovic scored 22 goals and added 17 assists with the Hurricanes last season, producing in the regular season but struggling in the playoffs. He only logged four points in nine postseason outings last year.

The forward, who is widely considered the best free agent still available in the open market, has vast experience, including in the postseason, and has shown the ability to slot into a top-six role and contribute secondary scoring.

As McGran noted, Toronto has already made four additions to its forward corps this offseason, bringing in Nic Roy, Dakota Joshua, Mattias Maccelli, and Michael Pezzetta.

Head coach Craig Berube acknowledged the difficulty of replacing Mitch Marner but emphasized that the Leafs were deeper overall, hinting that the Leafs might be done with additions to the unit.

“We brought in three new players — Roy, Joshua and Maccelli, all sorta different types of players — but I feel like we’re probably a deeper team, bringing in the three guys,” Berube said. “We talk about replacing Mitch Marner; that’s not what we’re trying to do. We’re just trying to improve our team in other ways by adding these players.”

The situation leaves Roslovic as a possible option but not a necessity, with Toronto weighing the benefits of his offensive upside against the risks of unsettling its current forward depth in McGran's eyes.