Leafs have the opportunity to do something very cheeky that could have them exceeding the cap by a lot for the playoffs
In what is an all-important deadline for the Leafs, I'm certain that GM Kyle Dubas will be leaving no stone unturned in his attempt to give his team as much of an edge as he can before the playoffs, with their most likely opponent being Tampa for the second consecutive year. Just how many players he adds and at what position is still up for debate.
It's no secret that the Buds would like to add both a forward and a defenseman at the deadline if they can find a way to make the money work. However, they may yet have the opportunity to add even more. I know what you're going to say. The salary cap won't allow it. Well, there is a bit of a work-around if Dubas wants to take it. It would simply require the Leafs to trade for Gustav Nyquist, who was recently ruled out for the remainder of the year by the Blue Jackets.
Assuming that Jake Muzzin is done for the rest of the year, if the Leafs were to acquire Nyquist and move out Kerfoot, it would open up a significant amount of cap space once Nyquist and his $5.5M cap hit was shifted over to LTIR, which could allow the Leafs to pursue a high-priced forward to play in the top six without having to worry about much in the way of salary retention.
There's a rumour that Nyquist could be healthy enough to return for the playoffs if a contending team does push to acquire him. While there's no guarantee that he'd be ready to go in time for Game 1, even being able to insert him into the lineup later on in the 1st round series (or 2nd round, if the Leafs can get there) could be a pretty significant boost for the bottom six. But let's back the truck up for a moment here.
The Leafs currently have around $1.1M in available cap space with Muzzin and Robertson on LTIR and while carrying a full 23-man roster. That number can be increased if they shift down to a 21-man roster. If they move Kerfoot either to Columbus or elsewhere in another deal, it would open up enough space for the Leafs to be able to accommodate the full extent of Nyquist's $5.5M cap hit. Then, once he's been on the roster for a day, the Buds could shift his $5.5M over to LTIR, opening up a world of possibilities. For those who may be unaware, the salary cap doesn't factor in for the playoffs. We saw it when Tampa activated Nikita Kucherov a couple of years ago and played well over the cap.
If they do acquire Nyquist to gain some additional LTIR flexibility, if the Leafs really wanted to, they could essentially go after both a forward and a defenseman - say Timo Meier and Luke Schenn, for example - and they would effectively be adding Meier, Schenn and Nyquist for their playoff run. If you take a look at what the roster might look like with Meier, Schenn and Nyquist in the fold, it's pretty apparent that it's a more balanced roster from top to bottom than what we currently have.
Bunting-Matthews-Nylander
Meier-Tavares-Marner
Engvall-Holmberg-Jarnkrok
ZAR-Kampf-Nyquist
Rielly-Brodie
Giordano-Liljegren
Sandin-Schenn
Extras: Holl, Timmins
Murray/Samsonov
Nothing against Jarnkrok in the top six. He's been very good. But when you have the chance to add someone like Timo Meier to the mix, I don't think there's any question that you're a better team with him than without him. Also, having that cascading effect and having Jarnkrok playing lower in the lineup could create some nightmare matchup scenarios for the opposition. Having Jarnkrok and Nyquist on different lines in the bottom six also ensures that there's an actual scoring threat on each line.
It's too soon to say whether or not this is something Kyle Dubas is looking at doing, but it would certainly give the Leafs a bit of a competitive edge and a really dangerous roster from top to bottom. I'd love to see this happen, personally.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 4 | 596 ANSWERS Leafs have the opportunity to do something very cheeky that could have them exceeding the cap by a lot for the playoffs Should the Leafs go after Nyquist for the LTIR relief to open up some more possibilities? | ||
| Yes | 474 | 79.5 % |
| No | 122 | 20.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
