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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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The Toronto Maple Leafs extended qualifying offers to four of their seven restricted free agents before Monday’s 5pm et deadline.

Forwards Connor Brown and Zach Hyman, goaltender Garret Sparks, and defenceman Justin Holl were all pending RFAs who received offers from Toronto, while goaltender Antoine Bibeau and forwards Sergey Kalinin and Seth Griffith did not.

Brown and Hyman both played more than 60 NHL games last season, so their qualifying offers are one-way deals, while Sparks and Holl, who spent almost all of last season in the American Hockey League, can receive a two-way deal.

Hyman and Sparks are both arbitration eligible (because they signed their NHL contracts at or after the age of 20), while Brown is not. Qualifying offers extended have to be 110 per cent of a player’s base salary if he makes $660,000 or less (Sparks, Holl, Brown) and 105 per cent of a player’s base salary if it’s between $660,000 and $1 million (Hyman).

Brown skated in all 82 games for the Leafs last season as a rookie, posting 20 goals and 16 assists. Hyman also dressed for all 82 games as a rookie, playing the entire season on a line with Auston Matthews, and tallied 10 goals and 18 assists.

Sparks had an injury-riddled campaign with the Marlies that cut his season down to just 31 games, with a 2.16 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. He was recalled to the Leafs three times - in January, March and April - but did not appear in any NHL games. He played in 17 games for Toronto a season ago and received his first qualifying offer as an RFA last June.

Bibeau, a sixth-round draft choice by the Leafs in 2013, was called up by the Leafs in December to back up starter Frederik Andersen and made his NHL debut on December 11 against the Colorado Avalanche, a 3-1 Leafs loss. Bibeau made 26 saves.

When he returned to the Marlies full-time on January 8, Bibeau slipped down the depth chart in favour of Sparks. He appeared in only 16 games from his return until March 18.

During the playoffs, with Sparks injured, the Marlies turned to ECHL call-up Kasimir Kaskisuo instead of Bibeau to be their starter. The 23-year-old made one relief appearance during the Marlies’ playoff run, giving up two goals on 17 shots in 37:06.

Holl is a relatively unknown commodity - at 25 years old, he only just finished his second full season as a pro (both with the Marlies) after they plucked him out of the ECHL’s Indy Fuel on an AHL contract. After the 2015-16 season, Holl signed an entry-level deal with the Leafs and was an alternate captain for the Marlies in what ended up being a terrific season for him (eight goals, 11 assists in 72 games). With big (he’s 6-foot-2) right-shot defencemen in demand, and with Toronto trying to shore up their blue line in the short and long term, they were wise to keep Holl in the fold.

Kalinin arrived with the Leafs in a trade that sent Viktor Loov to the New Jersey Devils in February. The centre posted two goals and two assists in 19 games with Toronto.

Griffith had an up-and-down season overall that included two stops with the Leafs organization. He was claimed off waivers from the Boston Bruins on Oct. 11, skated in three games (with no points) and was then waived again on Nov. 11 only to be picked up by the Florida Panthers. Griffith appeared in 21 games with the Panthers, and was playing on their top line at one point, before they waived him again and saw him re-claimed by Toronto on January 20. He was immediately reassigned to the Marlies, where he tallied 10 goals and 34 assists in 38 games.