Leafs shift a pair of players over to LTIR to free up an additional $1.5M in cap relief
The Leafs are set to return from the holiday break this evening as they have traveled to St. Louis to take on the Blues. The blueline is anything but healthy right now, but with Morgan Rielly and Rasmus Sandin on the mend, we could soon see the healthiest blueline that we've seen all year, with only Jake Muzzin sidelined.
Kyle Dubas and AGM Brandon Pridham had some work to do on Tuesday with Rielly nearing full health and with the Buds transitioning winger Nick Robertson and defenseman Victor Mete over to LTIR, they now have enough remaining LTIR relief to activate Rielly.
As far as Muzzin goes, we're still over a month away from any answers, as the veteran blueliner is not expected to be re-evaluated until some point in February. Assuming that Muzzin misses the remainder of the year, the Leafs' blueline should look something like this once Sandin and Rielly return:
Rielly-BrodieGiordano-HollSandin-LiljegrenExtras: Benn-Timmins
There has been some talk among the Toronto media that the Leafs may look to acquire another defenseman, perhaps one with a bit of a mean streak, ahead of the playoffs. As far as depth goes, though, the Leafs appear to be one of the deeper teams in the league on defense.
