Report suggests that the Leafs and Ondrej Kase may find a way to make it work

Earlier this week, Leafs' forward Ondrej Kase sent Leaf Nation into a frenzy when he posted a photo to his Instagram thanking the Leafs and Leaf fans for a great season. At the time of the post, Leafs fans believed that it was his way of saying that he will not be coming back next season.

Kase was brought in on a 1-year $1.25M deal after he was not sent a qualifying offer by Boston and became a free agent. It was a low risk, high reward deal for the Leafs as Kase was a former 20 goal scorer. After battling a concussion for the majority of his two seasons with Boston (9 games played total) which led to his departure, he was brought in to be a serviceable third line player that could move up the lineup if needed.

Kase still battled injuries in Toronto, including a concussion again this season, but managed to skate in 50 games posting 13 goals. He was an effective penalty killer and provided much needed scoring depth for the Leafs. He also brought a tenacious and physical presence on the forecheck, even though he is not a big player.

According to Elliotte Friedman during the most recent edition of his 32 Thoughts podcast, Kase may not have had any hidden messages in his Instagram post, but was simply showing gratitude to the fans. Friedman mentioned that the Leafs and Kase are having contract discussions, but given that Kase has arbitration rights, the Leafs could be wary of the potential contract awarded.


The «walk away» number for teams this season is just over $4.5M, meaning that anything awarded to Kase under that number, the Leafs would have to accept and find a way to make the salary fit under the cap.

Kase fit in well with the Leafs when healthy and with Mikheyev likely leaving, he would have a permanent spot on the third line next to Engvall and Kampf - a line that worked very well together when they were all healthy. The big question is, can Kase stay healthy?