The Leafs have about $1.25M in available cap space once Matt Murray returns from IR and can open up an additional $750K if they choose to waive depth defenseman Jordie Benn. You may not think that that $2M can go a long way, but you need only look at the fact that Ryan O'Reilly's cap hit in Toronto is just $1.875M thanks to the salary that St. Louis and Minnesota retained in the deal. The point I'm trying to make there is that $2M is more than enough to squeeze in another impact player, as long as GM Kyle Dubas believes that he can get good value for the assets he decides to move.
One popular opinion is that the Leafs should move Alexander Kerfoot to open up an additional $3.5M in cap space and truly go all-in. However, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe seems to really appreciate all of the details in Kerfoot's game and loves the versatility he offers. Some comments made by Keefe this week seem to indicate that, if he has anything to say about it, Kerfoot will stay right where he is.
If the Leafs do decide to hold onto Kerfoot, there are other pending UFAs on the team who make more than the league minimum that the Leafs can move to open up some additional space. Pierre Engvall ($2.25M) and Justin Holl ($2M) are two examples of players they could afford to move if it meant bringing in a clear upgrade.
POLL | ||
24 FEVRIER | 306 ANSWERS Comments made recently by Sheldon Keefe about Alex Kerfoot might indicate that the Leafs could be planning to move someone else Who should the Leafs move to open up some additional cap space at the deadline? | ||
Kerfoot | 98 | 32 % |
Engvall | 51 | 16.7 % |
Holl | 131 | 42.8 % |
Other/Nobody | 26 | 8.5 % |
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