By Tuesday night, GMs had spent nearly $500 million on UFAs. As always, a ton of that money was spent recklessly and was used to sign future buyouts. Amidst the chaos there were some reasonable deals and some outright steals.

Here's a recap of some of the worst and best contracts handed out on the first day of free agency.

Dave Bolland wants to be a Leaf for life, and a fellow Mimico boy might help make it happen.

“I’d like to get him signed,” Brendan Shanahan told the Toronto Sun a few weeks ago. “He’s the type of player I like, the type of player we need."

There's a lot to like about Bolland. He comes with a winning pedigree, grit, leadership, and the type of blue collar work ethic that plays well with the Toronto crowd. He's the type of player that does the little things that help a team win. But that doesn't mean the Leafs should break the bank to keep him.

According to Steve Simmons, the Leafs don't want to pay Bolland any more than the $4.2 million a season they are paying Tyler Bozak. That means there's a disconnect between the two camps, because Darren Dreger reported at the end of February that Bolland could be looking for as much as $5 million a year, and maybe more.

With close to $49 million already committed to only 12 players next season, giving Bolland anything more than $4 million a year means the Leafs view him as a core piece, rather than a complementary one, like he was in Chicago.

That would be a major mistake.

The Rob Ford saga picked the best time to amp up. With the Leafs off for five days there was nothing else for people to talk about other than Rob Ford's crack escapades. It came at the perfect moment, because everyone could be distracted from the dire situation the Leafs find themselves in.

Who the hell is going to play centre for this team?

Elliotte Friedman publishes 30 Thoughts every Monday and it's something I look forward to reading every week. Friedman sprinkles in great quotes from GMs and executives, covers trade talk in a credible way, and gives a must-read rundown on the pressing issues in hockey.

It's a great format. And I'm going to rip it off completely. In the past I tried my own style of 30 Thoughts, which I called 41 shots. But 41 is a lot of ideas to get in, and I abandoned the format. Well, I've been re-inspired, not only because Friedman's 30 Thoughts are back after a summer hiatus, but also because Maple Leafs Hot Stove's Anthony Petrielli writes what he calls "Too Long for Twitter" on his personal blog, and it's pretty great as well.

But I'm going to be realistic and stick with 10 thoughts. I think I can manage that many. I hope to post what I'm dubbing "10 Minute Misconduct" every Friday and I will (hopefully) stick to that schedule. Although today's post is exclusively about the Leafs, in the future I'll give my thoughts on topics around the league, lest all my posts become "Dave Bolland: pretty great!"

Living through the JFJ era was torture for Leafs fans, and it appears the misguided, mismanaged ways of the past are returning.

Dave Nonis has used the Leafs' final compliance buyout on Mikhail Grabovski, ridding Toronto of Grabovski's $5.5 million cap hit. The buyout will cost the Leafs $14.33 million in real dollars over eight years, but nothing against the cap.

The playoffs are a time when relatively unheralded players elevate their play and become household names. Throughout the regular season many of these players receive attention within their local cities and are probably recognized throughout the league, but not many people around the league know how truly good some of these players really are. These are the underrated and underappreciated.

After a successful post-season many of these players will no longer suffer from a lack of appreciation. Praise is nice, but it can sometimes become a curse. With accolades come expectations; with expectations come pressure. Players can quickly turn from underrated to overrated.

Let’s take a look at a list of players who elevated their game during the playoffs and helped turn more than a few heads. Whether these players continue to play at this level will become evident over the next few seasons. In the meantime, they should enjoy the increased coverage.