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Keeping Up-to-Date with Maple Leafs’ Free Agent Zach Bogosian

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | By Old Prof | Last updated 7/14/21

Three pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs) who were on the team’s roster last season have been in the news recently. These roster players are Zach Bogosian, Zach Hyman, and Frederik Andersen. As we reported earlier in the day, the news is that Hyman’s looking as if he’s potentially leaving; however, it looks like there’s a chance that Andersen might potentially be staying.

In this post, I’ll try to help Toronto Maple Leafs’ fans stay up-to-date on Zach Bogosian’s status.

Zach Bogosian News

As Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun tweeted today, there are indications that Zach Bogosian will likely enter the open market as a UFA. However, that isn’t written in stone because he’s had recent contract discussions with the Maple Leafs. Similar to the other team’s UFAs, Bogosian becomes eligible to sign with any team starting on July 28.

It seems as if Bogosian will be testing the free-agent market, but never say never with a return to the Maple Leafs. As the video below shows, he likes playing for head coach Sheldon Keefe. Last season, in the 45 games he played, he scored four assists; however, he also took 36 shots, had 31 blocked shots, and registered 67 hits.

#Leafs and Zach Bogosian have talked, but as of right now, indications are that he will go to the open market. Like all of these things, that could change.
— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) July 14, 2021

Bogosian Shows Better than Fans Think Analytically

I’ve recently been engaging in some advanced statistics (with the help of Maple Leafs’ fan Stan Smith) to assess how good Maple Leafs’ defensemen were. Bogosian was a bit of a surprise to me. Most Maple Leafs’ fans think of him as a stay-at-home physical defenseman who doesn’t produce much offensively. However, among the Maple Leafs’ other defensemen, he comes in third in terms of offense for defensemen after Jake Muzzin (who ranks first) and Morgan Rielly (who ranks second).

[It should be noted that the majority of Bogosian’s ice time comes on the bottom pair, so he’s usually not facing the opposition’s best players. At the same time, he’s also playing with bottom six players.]

It Might Be a Good Thing to Keep Bogosian

Bogosian could be a solid player for the Maple Leafs once again next season. However, does he want to return? This news today is the first I’ve heard about Bogosian since the season’s end. Every once in a while, it seems I read a critique of Bogosian’s play from an analytics point-of-view; however, that isn’t what our season’s review suggests.

I think he was a solid roster member for the team all season. Obviously, Maple Leafs’ head coach Sheldon Keefe agrees. In a recent article, Sheldon Keefe spoke about Bogosian.

Keefe noted, “He’s got great experience coming off of last season’s playoff and the elements that he brings to our defense helps us both at five on five and on the penalty kill, so it’s a nice addition for us.”

Bogosian could be a great veteran partner who’d play with and mentor a young, skilled puck-mover like Rasmus Sandin. if I were general manager Kyle Dubas, Bogosian might be on my try-to-re-sign list.

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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