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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed 24-year-old winger Josh Leivo to a one-year contract extension worth $925,000, the club announced on Friday.

Leivo has appeared in five of 20 games so far this season, posting one assist while averaging 11:52 per game in ice time. Most recently against New Jersey on Thursday night, Leivo sat out his 15th game of the season despite Auston Matthews remaining out of the lineup due to injury. That was because Nikita Soshnikov, recalled for contractual reasons, entered the lineup ahead of him on the team’s fourth line.

Now that Soshnikov is up with the big club for the foreseeable future – both because of his KHL out clause and his waiver exemption expiring after two more games played — Leivo is back in a similar situation to where he was last year. Mike Babcock has indicated in the past that Soshnikov fits the fourth-line role better as far as his straight-ahead game, physical edge, penalty-killing ability, and foot speed. If Soshnikov is here to stay, it’s possible Leivo will drop down another wrung on the depth chart and be even further away from regular duty once Auston Matthews returns to the lineup.

As much as the contract extension answers one question about Leivo’s future, it creates a couple more.

The motivation from the Leafs‘ side of things is clear: If they don’t get him into 34 or more games this year, they were going lose control over the asset and he would’ve become a Group-6 unrestricted free agent. Whether Leivo is going to be a part of the team’s future plans or he’s trade bait, the club’s reason for wanting him him under contract for another year is obvious.

The impetus from Leivo’s side of the equation is more ambiguous. It could be that he’s at a point in his career where he’ll take a one-way NHL contract any way he can get it. It could be that he’s anticipating getting moved this season, so the cost certainty of another year under contract (at a cheap number) helps his cause toward that end while guaranteeing him a one-way salary for next season. Or it could be that Leafs management has kept Leivo apprised to their plan for him over the next year-plus, which includes more opportunity right here in Toronto given the pending UFA status of wingers James van Riemsdyk and Leo Komarov.

As far as potential trade prospects, Bob McKenzie suggested on TSN 1050 on Tuesday that there is more than one team that has interest in Josh Leivo.

There are teams out there that look at him and think, “That guy would be pretty good on the third or fourth line. Maybe he can score 15 goals and 30-40 points if we play him regularly on our third line.” I wonder – just wonder – if at some point the Leafs are going to say, “We’re going to lose this guy for nothing at the end of the year anyway, probably, so let’s move him on.” Soshnikov isn’t going back down unless he’s really bad. Three more games and he requires waivers to go down.

The contract raises as many questions as it answers, but in the meantime, at least from the outside looking in, Josh Leivo appears to remain committed to being a Toronto Maple Leaf despite sitting out 84 of 102 games since joining the big club roster.