The Maple Leafs announced Wednesday that they have agreed on a two-year contract extension with RFA forward Pierre Engvall. The 23-year-old Swedish rookie has 14 points (7G, 7A) in 35 games for the Leafs in his first season with the team. The contract will carry a cap hit of $1.25 million over the next two seasons starting in 2020-21. After that, he will be an restricted free agent once again.

Engvall is a seventh-round pick from the 2014 draft, taken 188th overall. Only he and William Nylander (taken eighth overall) have played meaningful games for the Maple Leafs in the six years since. Engvall joined the Toronto Marlies in 2018 and helped them win the Calder Cup that summer. He then led the team in goals the following year before getting the call-up this season.

Engvall will be a good measuring stick for another anticipated restricted free agent this summer: Ilya Mikheyev. Mikheyev had 23 points (8G, 15A) in 39 games for the Leafs in his first year in North America, but suffered a wrist laceration that needed surgery on December 27th and hasn’t played since. Both left wingers will be vital to the team’s depth moving forward, especially if the Leafs try to deal one of their wingers with a bigger contract number (e.g. Kasperi Kapanen or Andreas Johnsson).

Update: Ilya Mikheyev out of surgery will miss a minimum of 90 days

12 forwards have played over 300 minutes at 5v5 for the Leafs this season, including Engvall. Here’s how he stacks up to the group.

I’ve included his shot data for and against to show Engvall as a low-event player with positive overall numbers when combining offense and defense.

CF/60 = 56.52 (11th)
CA/60 = 50.93 (1st)
CF% = 52.8% (8th)
xGF/60 = 2.36 (11th)
xGA/60 = 2.07 (2nd)
xGF% = 53.26% (6th)
GF/60 = 2.60 (10th)
GA/60 = 1.92 (1st)
GF% = 57.49 (2nd)
on-ice sh% = 8.33% (8th)
on-ice sv% = 93.59% (1st)

Data from Evolving-Hockey.com.

All in all, Engvall is a positive possession player with good defensive results across the board. He penalty kills well and can play in the middle six. He has size, speed, and some skill. Put it all together and that’s a player the Leafs can definitely use.

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