Toronto Maple Leafs linked to top college free agent
The Toronto Maple Leafs appear to be trying to hitch their wagon to one of the hottest names on the free agent market.
But rather than waiting until the summer, they’re reportedly looking at Dartmouth forward Luke Haymes, who attended Maple Leafs development camp in July 2023 and is an undrafted college free agent. He played one year of junior hockey for the Cowichan Valley Capitals in the BCHL before playing for Dartmouth for the past three seasons.
“I didn’t really know much about him, but towards the end of last week in making my calls, somebody put him on my radar as a college free agent,” Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts Podcast episode that dropped on Monday. “I’ve heard a few teams are starting to ask about when they can talk to him, and I think it’s some of the heavy hitters. Some players, they kind of look at like, ‘Where’s my clearest path to the NHL?’ [For] others, teams say, ‘Get in our system, and we’ll give you an opportunity.”
Haymes, a 21-year-old from Ottawa, has 10 points, including seven goals in 12 games this season, a year after scoring 18 goals and 18 assists in 31 games. A 6-foot-1, 192 lbs forward, he is in his third season of college hockey.
“This was a name I heard the heavy hitters were going after and targeting and going to talk to. I think Toronto is one of them. I’ve heard the Maple Leafs are interested,” Friedman added. “I assume that Ottawa is around there too. There’s gonna be some action around him in the near future.”
Toronto currently has a little over $2.9 million in cap space, as per PuckPedia.