from Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun,

Q: Expect free agency to be pretty crazy this year?

Nonis: It is every year, I think there’s always that sprint the first 6-8 hours, and then after Day 1 it slows down a little bit. I think it will be the same. There’s some good players at free agency, there might be a few more added if there’s buyouts between now and then. It will be quick like it usually is, and then after that it’s a drawn out affair, with players trying to find their level in what their worth and teams looking for bargains at that point.

Q: Bolland. Are you still hopeful of re-signing him?

Nonis: Yeah, we’re hopeful. There’s work to do for sure. Dave is a quality guy and a good player and brings a lot of the things we want to keep with our team. There’s got to be a number that makes sense for both sides, and if there isn’t, then he can go to free agency. But we’re still in contact with Dave and our opinion of him hasn’t changed.

Q: What is this Leafs team? The team that took Boston to seven games in 2013 or the team that missed the playoffs this year?

Nonis: I think we collectively, fans, people with the team, you are too negative when things don’t go well and too positive when things do go well. I think our team is right in the mix with a number of other teams that could finish anywhere from four to 10. And that’s what we even said going into the year. We believed we had the makings of a playoff team but so did six other teams that were fighting for the same spot. We’re still a team trying to grow that needs to get deeper, we still need to get more experience. Our Marlies team is looking like they’re starting to give us some options with some players. All those things have to continue, we’re not anywhere near where we need to be. We’re happy with some of the strides we’ve taken, we’re moving in the right direction. But we have a lot of work to do.

more