On the third day of free agency, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced the signing of Calle Jarnkrok to a four-year $8.4 million deal. His salary cap hit will be $2.1 million a season.
Jarnkrok gives the Toronto Maple Leafs another depth forward who is solid defensively. He consistently scores between 25-35 points and is the perfect replacement for Ondrej Kase.
The 30-year-old Swede, who will be 31 when the season starts, gives Toronto plenty of experience. He has played 574 regular season games and 75 playoff games. Toronto GM Kyle Dubas has been retooling the team’s depth this off-season, and Jarnkrok is a great addition.
(Stats from hockey-reference.com)
Last season, Jarnkrok recorded 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points in 66 games. After spending eight seasons in Nashville with the Predators, Jarnkrok got selected by the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft. He then got traded to the Calgary Flames at the trade deadline. During the 2022 NHL playoffs, he recorded four points in 12 games.
Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Make a Trade
According to capfriendly.com, the Toronto Maple Leafs currently have $756,884 available in cap space. The team still needs to re-sign its two restricted free agents. Pierre Engvall and Rasmus Sandin are negotiating new deals. Kyle Dubas will need $4 million – $5 million in cap space if he is to re-sign both players.
The Toronto GM will need to make a trade or two to free up cap space. Trading away Jake Muzzin would free up $5.625 million, which should be enough to get Engvall and Sandin signed. However, Muzzin has a no-trade clause and will have to approve any trade Dubas presents to him. Moving Muzzin would also free up a spot on the left side of Toronto’s defense. The free spot on the left defense would then get filled by Sandin.
If Muzzin refuses to get traded, the next best thing is to move Alex Kerfoot ($3.5 million) and Justin Holl ($2 million). The two players are both unrestricted free agents after this season. They combine for $5.5 million, which like muzzin’s $5.625 million, should be enough to re-sign Engvall and Sandin.
Kerfoot had a career year with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. He recorded 13 goals and 38 assists for 51 points in 82 games. His trade value has never been higher, so Dubas could capitalize on that. Holl did not have a great season, but he did record 23 points in 69 games. He is a right-shooting defenseman which is appealing to many teams.
I don’t think Toronto GM Kyle Dubas will have trouble trading Muzzin if the defenseman agrees. Trading Kerfoot and Holl shouldn’t be too difficult either. A trade will need to happen to get Sandin and Engvall signed. Sooner or later, we will find out how Dubas plans to create the needed cap space.