Entitled Maple Leafs defenseman is upset with his role in the organization
With a little over a week until Free Agency opens Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Rasmus Sandin remains without a contract for next season.
Sportnets' Elliotte Friedman was on SN590 and shared his thoughts on the Sandin situation.
I think they felt they would be able to get Sandin signed, and they would tell him that if he plays well enough, there is going to be a spot for him. I think Sandin is resisting that right now. I think he is taking a look at what is going on with the blue line and saying, «There is not really a spot for me here.» Whether he is right or wrong about this, he doesn't feel that it is set up for him to have a fair shot at his strong side on the roster.
I think Toronto has tried to convince him otherwise, but at this point in time, he is not convinced. I don't know if that means they are going to trade him. I don't think that is the preferred outcome here, but I think, at the very least, what it's done is made them think whether they are going to have to do something they didn't initially think they were going to have to do.
Toronto has the left side of their defence signed to multi year contracts in Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and Mark Giordano. They are all ahead of Sandin currently on the depth chart and play his preferred position.
In 51 games this past season, Sandin put up five goals and 11 assists while averaging 16:58 per night. Dealing with a knee injury that forced him out of the final 20 regular season games of the season, Sandin didn't crack the lineup in any of the Leafs' seven playoff games in their first round series loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Leaf's GM Kyle Dubas has some big decisions to make with the roster. It will be interesting to see if one of the moves is trading Sandin or another defenceman to open up a spot for the young Swede.
| POLL | ||
Which current Leaf Defencman will be traded this off-season? | ||
| Rasmus Sandin | 52 | 17.6 % |
| Justin Holl | 107 | 36.3 % |
| Jake Muzzin | 63 | 21.4 % |
| Multiple | 73 | 24.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
