Check PHT each weekday for the first four weeks of June for a new pending unrestricted free agent of the day. Today’s UFA of the Day is...
Dave Bolland
The Toronto Maple Leafs had high hopes for Bolland when they acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks in the summer of 2013.
Bolland came to the city as a two-time Stanley Cup winner that was commonly seen as a great third-line center thanks to his reputation for frustrating some of the best skilled forwards in the game, but Leafs GM Dave Nonis wanted to see him play a “more prominent role.”
That experiment never really got off the ground though because Bolland missed the bulk of the season with an ankle injury. By itself, that’s an unfortunate setback, but it’s also part of a troubling trend. Bolland has now missed more than a third of his regular season games over the last five years as he’s battled a variety of injuries.
Despite that, the 28-year-old is reportedly demanding an annual cap hit of around $5 million. He might end up getting that too as there aren’t many two-way centers still in their prime that are set to enter the free agent market.
New Leafs president Brendan Shanahan did call him “the type of player we need” and Bolland would like to spend the rest of his career in Toronto, so there’s definitely some mutual interest there. That asking price might result in him finding employment elsewhere though.
