Report: Maple Leafs shopping Mikheyev's rights

The Toronto Maple Leafs have notified teams they're willing to trade the rights to pending unrestricted free-agent forward Ilya Mikheyev, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Mikheyev set career highs in goals (21) and points (32) last season in just 53 games. He's also an excellent penalty killer. Among NHL forwards with at least 50 minutes shorthanded last season, Mikheyev's 30.5% expected goals share was third-best in the league, per Natural Stat Trick.

The speedy, 6-foot-3 winger is likely seeking a sizable raise from his previous contract, which carried a cap hit of $1.645 million, according to CapFriendly. He's just 27 years old.

The Maple Leafs have $6.4 million in cap space this offseason. They have three pending restricted free agents in Pierre Engvall, Ondrej Kase, and Rasmus Sandin. They will also need to sort out their goaltending situation, as Jack Campbell is a pending UFA.

It was reported last week that the Leafs had yet to offer new contracts to Mikheyev and Campbell - their top two UFAs.

The Leafs originally signed Mikheyev out of the KHL in 2019. In three NHL seasons, he's totaled 36 goals and 36 assists in 146 games while playing a middle-six role.

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