In a day hot with rumours, James Mirtle set the smart tone early:

But that didn't stop the men who give their ears to agents:

When the reality of Free Agent Frenzy hit at noon, some Leafs fans were worried, mostly that the Leafs would do something less than brilliant. What many fans wanted was for this prophesy to come true:

But all afternoon there were rumours and fears that this thinking would prevail:

Jason Demers, Kris Russell and the aforementioned Martin were all still un-signed when Justin Smoak was hitting a home run to tie the game at three o'clock.

The game was still tied in the bottom of the eighth when the word came down. The Leafs had made a move:

If you're going for a tough guy, at least get an elite tough guy? Or, as El Seldo says here, maybe you just don't spend cap space that way.

The traditional view:

The damning with faint praise view:

The meh, maybe he's got hidden depths portion of the afternoon:

The "character" is legit view:

And, in a day drenched in money, it was small beer.

Roberto Osuna was great in the ninth inning, but the long form choral version of Just Play the Kids was getting sung by Leafs fans, nervous that the wrong right-handed defenceman was next. Free baseball played on in the background.

In a statement that could soothe us all while we waited for the Canada Day baseball marathon to end, Lou Lamoriello signaled he's not spending any more money.