The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a position to be buyers ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be hoping to pick the bones of clubs on the outside of the playoffs looking in.
Those teams will likely be looking to acquire assets in exchange for players whom they may lose in free agency over the summer. A franchise that fits this description perfectly is the Washington Capitals.
Unfortunately, things have not worked out in the way they would have hoped this season. While their fans have enjoyed seeing Alexander Ovechkin do what he does, continue to score en masse, those same fans have had to endure seeing their team collect losses.
The Capitals aren’t just primed to be sellers, but they could very well clear house. That’s because they are stocked with players at the ends of their contracts. General Manager Brian MacLellan should be looking for a way to salvage this season and the best way to do so while missing the playoffs is to build for the future.
There are different trade scenarios that can play out, but if the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking for a rental, then they don’t need to look any further than to Washington. According to Capfriendly, The Caps have five forwards set to become unrestricted free agents (UFA). Incredibly, every single one of their active NHL defensemen are playing on expiring deals. Six of those contracts are UFAs and two are restricted free agents (RFA). (all stats naturalstattrick.com).
Let’s dig into who may be available and why they may be interesting for the Leafs.