A pair of Leafs veterans are in jeopardy of being phased out this season; could they be used as trade chips?
With NHL training camps right around the corner, rosters are quickly filling up. For the Leafs, there are 48/50 contract slots currently filled, with Rasmus Sandin making 49 when he gets done and 50/50 should Zach Aston-Reese's PTO turn into a 1-year deal. In addition, the Leafs will need a contract slot for Matthew Knies when he comes over from the NCAA in the spring.
How is this all relevant to the NHL vets in the room? Well, for Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds, there is a real, legitimate risk of being phased out or waived this season - if they aren't traded first.
The Leafs' contract number will decrease in the coming weeks, as the Buds will need to clear at least one contract in order to fit Rasmus Sandin in under the cap. The Leafs are currently ~$1.5M over the cap. The most likely candidate to be moved is defenseman Justin Holl, since the Leafs currently have 8 NHL defensemen on the roster without Sandin signed. Alex Kerfoot is another trade candidate, but mostly due to his cap hit ($3.5M x1).
So how do Clifford and Simmonds factor in here? Well, their combined cap hit is ~$1.66M. Knowing that their combined cap hit is enough to drop the Leafs below the $82.5M threshold, knowing that the Leafs seem to be loading up on bottom-six players this summer and that they were looking to completely revamp their 4th line, the writing appears to be on the wall for the two enforcers.
Clifford (31) and Simmonds (34) are competing for 4th line spots with the likes of Nicolas Aube-Kubel (26), Joey Anderson (24), Adam Gaudette (25), Nick Abruzzese (23), Zach Aston-Reese (28), Pontus Holmberg (23), Alex Steeves (22) and potentially even Nick Robertson (20). With 10 players competing for two spots, nothing is a sure thing. Not even for a pair of grizzled veterans like Clifford and Simmonds. And that's assuming that the Leafs are done adding PTOs. There might yet be another body or two entering the competition.
As far as their value goes, I'm sure there's some rebuilding teams out there looking for some veterans to protect their young stars. There could even be a team who might want to stash a player like either of these two warriors as their 13th forward in the press box and save them for the playoffs. A low draft pick or even "future considerations" would be a small price to pay (or literally nothing) for a potentially helpful piece down the line.
Both players have clearly lost a step - though Sheldon Keefe has been vocal about his feelings about Kyle Clifford. Keefe does enjoy the way he plays and the elements that he adds to the Leafs' lineup. Having said that, it's very likely that Keefe is also going to like Aube-Kubel and Aston-Reese for the same reasons. These two younger vets are literal wrecking balls who hit everything that moves, but who can also add other elements. Both players are defensively adept and are excellent forecheckers who can make life miserable for the opposition.
It's not out of the question to imagine that the Leafs have already made up their minds even before camp has begun. The Buds have not experienced any success with Simmonds and/or Clifford in the lineup in the postseason and there seems to be more to gain from moving on and getting some different looks than there is from trying to tweak the existing recipe that we already know doesn't taste very good.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 10 | 525 ANSWERS A pair of Leafs veterans are in jeopardy of being phased out this season; could they be used as trade chips? Will Wayne Simmonds or Kyle Clifford remain with the Leafs past training camp? | ||
| Yes, they'll both remain with the team | 78 | 14.9 % |
| No, they're both gone | 268 | 51 % |
| Simmonds will be back | 134 | 25.5 % |
| Clifford will be back | 45 | 8.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
