Toronto Maple Leafs: 5 Worst Free Agent Signings Of The Past Decade

4. Colby Armstrong

When Brian Burke became General Manager of the Leafs, he made it clear what kind of players he wanted. “We require, as a team, proper levels of pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence”. Burke was set in his ways in how a team should be built. The bottom six should consist of hard nosed players, who are more known for using their hands to punch, rather than score goals.

In 2010, Burke viewed Colby Armstrong as a player that fit the bill. He had shown he could do a bit of both. A career high of 22 goals in the 2008-09 with the Atlanta Thrashers is good production for a player with his skill set. The problem is the Leafs gave term (three years) and an AAV of $3 million to a role player. Never is it a good idea to pay bottom six players. teams can find cheap options to play those roles anywhere. They are a dime a dozen.

The NHL was also going towards more of a speed game and Armstrong didn’t fit that style. From the moment he joined the Leafs, he struggled to keep up with the play and couldn’t stay healthy. Armstrong had a string of bad luck injuries in his two season’s with the Leafs, such as a popped out tendon in his wrist, a scratched cornea, broken foot and an ankle sprain.

If it wasn’t for bad luck, Armstrong wouldn’t have missed any at all in his time with the Leafs. He played just 50 games in his first season, then 29 in his second, totalling just 26 points as a Leaf. The final year of his 3 year contract was bought out.