2020 NHL UFA Top 75: Josh Leivo, Jan Rutta and Michael Del Zotto

Welcome to the DailyFaceoff UFA preview. Over the next 15 days, I’ll be profiling the top 30 players in this years UFA class, as listed by TSN. Contract information is from our friends at Puckpedia. Full UFA list via puckpedia here. Analytics provided by hockeyviz.com and naturalstattrick.com. Contract projections are done by evolving-hockey.com with the presumption contracts are signed between Aug. – Oct. 11. 

Today, we’re looking at the 73rd ranked @Josh Leivo, 72nd ranked @Jan Rutta and the 71st ranked @Michael Del Zotto.

@Josh Leivo

Leivo, 27, has found himself a nice home with the Vancouver Canucks after initially being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 3rd round of the 2011 draft.

However, he never seemed to be able to get a foothold on an NHL spot. The most games he played in one year in Toronto was 27 and that was ahead of a Dec. 2018 trade that sent him to the west coast for Michael Carcone.

In 84 games with the Leafs over parts of six years, he scored 14 goals and 28 points. With Vancouver over 85 games between last year and this year, Leivo has tallied 17 goals and 37 points.

This past season he played in only 36 games scoring 19 points due to a broken kneecap. However, when he was on the ice he was a very useful player as a dynamic bottom-six player. At 5v5, he posted a 52.45 CF%, an xG% of 49.95 and a goals for rate of 53.85 percent.

On top of that, Leivo posed an offensive isolated impact five percent higher than league average while providing defence at a rate one percent higher than league average.

Leivo has shown he can be a dynamic addition to a team’s middle-six as a scoring winger.

Contract projection: One year, $865k.

@Jan Rutta

One of Tampa Bay’s depth defenceman, Rutta, 30, will likely be hitting the open market. Rutta joined the Lightning after a Jan. 2019 trade from Chicago.

Tampa gave up @Slater Koekkoek and a 5th round pick to acquire Rutta and a 7th. In the last two years, Rutta has appeared in 47 games scoring one goal and nine points. He’s appeared in eight playoffs games in the last two years adding three assists.

Rutta’s provided offence at a six percent rate higher than league average, while his defensive contributions fall three percent below league average playing in a third pairing role.

His underlying numbers were strong, too. At 5v5, he posted a 53.17 CF% and a an xG% of 55.37 with a goals for rate of 58.70 percent.

Rutta would provide a depth role for a team looking for a solid 6/7 defenceman.

Contract projection: One year, $680.8k.

@Michael Del Zotto

From one team to the next, @Michael Del Zotto has bounced between a number of teams in the last four years having dressed for the Flyers, Canucks, Ducks and Blues all since 2016.

In those years, he’s scored 15 goals and 65 points in 224 games. This past season was spent with the Anaheim Ducks, where he scored two goals and 15 points in 49 games as a second-to-third pairing defenceman.

While able to provide some offence, he struggled analytically and in the defensive zone. His defensive contributions were five percent below league average, and his offensive contributions were one percent below league average. On special teams, he was four percent worse than league average.

This year at 5v5, he posted a 47.23 CF%, a 45.65 xG% ad a goals for rate of 54.05.

Wherever Del Zotto winds up, he’s likely to be nothing more than a third pairing defenceman at 30 years old.

Contract projection: One year, $1.026-m.

On Twitter: @zjlaing