Dave Nonis is open to the idea of Leo Komarov returning to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but don’t expect him to overspend to add the Finnish forward.
According to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, Nonis doesn’t see a fit financially for Komarov to re-join the Leafs.
Komarov dressed for 42 regular season games and seven post-season contests for the Leafs in 2012-13 before leaving to spend the 2013-14 season with Moscow Dynamo in the KHL.
The 27-year-old defensive specialist had a salary cap hit of $850,000 with the Leafs in 2012-13 and is reportedly looking for a raise if he returns to the NHL.
The Leafs hold Komarov’s rights until July 1 then he is free to sign with any NHL team.
Komarov told Sportsnet in February he loves Toronto and would be open to returning to the city.
“I really like it there man,” Komarov said while in Sochi representing his country at the Olympics. “It’s probably the best city I’ve played in, the organization is huge and all the fans and players were nice to me. I really liked it there but things changed a little bit…I would come back, though – you never know.”
The Leafs will hold organizational meetings next week and start making decisions on their pending unrestricted free agents. There are six UFAs the team have to make decisions on including centres Dave Bolland and Jay McClement, wingers Nikolai Kulemin, Mason Raymond and Troy Bodie, plus defenceman Paul Ranger.
Nonis added he has started interviewing for assistant coaching positions, but is in no rush to start hiring.