Leafs preparing to move a forward?
With just 10 days remaining until the trade deadline, the Leafs have already taken care of a pretty important piece of business, bolstering their top six and bottom six in one fell swoop with the additions of Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari. There's still plenty of time for GM Kyle Dubas to address other roster needs, particularly on the blueline.
This past week, TSN's Chris Johnston revealed that any Leafs moves from here on out would have to be money in, money out type moves, which means that a member of the current roster will have to either be involved in the move or moved in a deal as a precursor to open up the necessary cap space.
The most likely candidate to be moved is likely Alexander Kerfoot, who carries a $3.5M cap hit despite being relegated to 4th line duty. The image below from Daily Faceoff shows Kerfoot currently saddled up next to the newcomer Acciari and Zach Aston-Reese on the team's 4th line. Kerfoot is also a pending UFA.
The additions of O'Reilly and Acciari have created a bit of a cascading effect on the roster. Acciari's acquisition pushed rookie Pontus Holmberg down to the Toronto Marlies, while O'Reilly jumping right into the top six pushed Calle Jarnkrok down to the third line, which in turn pushed Kerfoot down to the 4th line.
The Leafs still need to open up a spot in the lineup for top prospect Matthew Knies, who is expected to join the team following the conclusion of the NCAA's Frozen Four tournament in April. With Kerfoot's cap hit being as high as it is for a 4th liner, moving him will open up enough space for the Buds to make a significant addition on the blueline.
Another factor here is that, previously, Kerfoot was a primary penalty killer for the Leafs and thus was deemed too important to special teams to move. With the Leafs having now added two better penalty killers in O'Reilly and Acciari, it renders Kerfoot much less vital than he once was.
All signs point towards a Kerfoot move in the next 10 days. Like it or not, the end of an era is likely on its way. If Kerfoot is moved, it will be a means to an end though, as it will further balance the lineup by allowing the Buds to bring in a top-4 defenseman to create a similar cascading effect on the blueline. Just who it pushes out into that 7th D spot is another discussion for another time.
| POLL | ||
21 FEVRIER | 610 ANSWERS Leafs preparing to move a forward? Will the Leafs move Kerfoot before the deadline? | ||
| Yes | 495 | 81.1 % |
| No | 115 | 18.9 % |
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