Breaking: Maple Leafs have signed Marincin and Hutchinson to matching contracts.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced 2 relatively minor contract signings, but both deals will be valuable ones moving forward given the team's salary cap struggles this offseason.

According to an official annoincement from the Toronto Maple Leafs Department of Public Relations, the Maple Leafs have signed both defenseman Matt Marincin and backup goaltender Michael Hutchinson to a pair of matching contracts. Both of the contracts are one year deals that will see each player earn $700,000 during the 2019 - 2020 National Hockey League regular season, and those numbers will be important down the line. As I stated these may seem like relatively small moves, but getting some cheap depth options secured for the upcoming season was a savvy move on the part of Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas who will almost certainly be facing a tough cap crunch when star forward Mitch Marner eventually signs a new contract.

Hutchinson is coming off a 5 game performance with the Maple Leafs last season in which he looked solid, recording a 2.64 goals against average and a .914 save percentage over that stretch. He played pretty well for the Toronto Marlies during the regular season as well, but his 2 appearances during the American Hockey League playoffs let a lot to be desired. However if he can prove to be a reliable backup when called upon once again the Maple Leafs will definitely have gotten their money's worth.

Marincin on the other hand has been a toll frquently utilized by Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, much to the shagrin of fans of the Maple Leafs who feel there are other players on the depth chart who have been more deserving. Marincin appeared in 24 games last season recording 1 goal and 4 assists for a total of 5 points and finished the season with a plus minus rating of -4. With a new deal in hand it seems likely that Marincin will once again see use under Babcock next season.

These may not appear to be important deals, but filling out the Maple Leafs roster with what little cap space is left after Marner signs will be Dubas' top priority this summer. Getting 2 cheap deals finalized early on in the process likely only serves to give him a little extra breathing room moving forward.