What are the Toronto Maple Leafs doing?
Other than signing RFA’s Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson to deals (which is very good), the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t doing a whole lot. At least that’s what I know.
As we went through draft weekend, we saw veteran Patrick Marleau get traded to the Carolina Hurricanes along with a first-round pick. We also heard that the Leafs were in on P.K. Subban.
As a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, it would have been amazing to see another Toronto boy come home and join his hometown team. However, in the end, the Leafs couldn’t take on his full salary, which is what Nashville wanted.
That’s totally fine, there are more great valued defensemen out there, right? There is Colin Miller, a right-handed shot defenseman, who’s pretty good and he’s got a good contract value…Oh wait, he just got traded to the Buffalo Sabres for a second-round pick in 2021 and a fifth-round pick in 2022.
And of course, everyone is a little upset. Cue the reactions:
https://twitter.com/IanGraph/status/1144737575141347331
Ian, I feel your pain.
I need more bacon to make this day better.
But, here’s an answer that may be the reason why the Leafs didn’t get involved in either trade.
Why Were the Leafs Not Involved in a Big Trade?
Currently, the Leafs have $6.9 million in cap space. They also have to sign Mitch Marner to a deal (that’s one thing that they’re working on). But, they also have to try and trade Nikita Zaitsev.
Kyle Dubas and the Leafs are basically handcuffed until the Marner deal is done because they don’t know how much cap room he’ll take up. And for Zaitsev, it’s the scenario of who’s going to take him off Dubas’ hands. If it’s anything like the Marleau deal, I’d maybe keep him for one more year and see if he can up his value.
However, if Dubas can get a team to take on his full salary (there are takers), then you will likely see Toronto add another defenseman. Dubas can even pull something off and get a defenseman back in the Zaitsev trade.
But, as I said before, it’s highly unlikely that Dubas makes any of those trades before Marner is signed. Unless he gets offer-sheeted.
The Leafs are doing a lot behind closed doors. We know that since Dubas has become the GM, not a lot has gotten out. So, if the Leafs do end up making a trade, before or after the Marner contract, then we’ll probably hear about it as it happens.
But until then, we get to play the fun waiting game and hope that Marner’s deal is good and fair.
Thanks for reading!