NHL free agency: Dave Bolland has an outrageous asking price

Go big or go home.

That seems to be Dave Bolland’s motto when it comes to trying to get a new contract out of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After acquiring him last offseason from the Chicago Blackhawks, the Toronto brass became enamored with Bolland’s presence on the team, almost as if he was the most valuable player they had. The injury that limited him to just 23 games and his absence was often mentioned when it came to the late season collapse that knocked the Maple Leafs out of the playoff hunt.

So you can’t really blame the guy for shooting for the moon in contract talks given how much the team seems to value him.

But there is just no way a player like Bolland, a checking like center, is worth that sort of investment for that much money over that many years. He doesn’t score, he’s not a guy that helps his team drive possession (a major problem in Toronto) and he’s not only coming off of a significant injury that derailed his 2013-14 season, he has played more than 61 games just twice during his seven-year career with the Blackhawks and Maple Leafs.

He’s not the solution for Toronto, he would be part of the problem.

Even when he is 100 percent healthy and playing at his best, Bolland is a depth guy. A complimentary player that fills out the bottom of your roster and nothing more.

After giving David Clarkson a seven-year, $36.7 million contract in free agency last year the Maple Leafs already have one massive contract on the books going to a tough, gritty, character player that can’t score.

The last thing they need is another one.