Minnesota Wild scouring the trade market for a forward; the Leafs are an ideal trade partner
The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently ~$1.4M over the salary cap and will still need to have a contract in place for RFA defenseman Rasmus Sandin before the start of the 2022-23 season, so we know the Leafs aren't done yet, but before they put the finishing touches on their roster, they'll need to clear some cap space.
Enter the Minnesota Wild. On Friday, The Athletic's Michael Russo has reported that the Wild are looking at adding another forward and that they're doing so on the trade market, rather than through the remaining free agents available on the open market.
Alexander Kerfoot is coming off of a career year that saw him post 51 points in 82 games in 2021-22. He has one season remaining on his current contract at $3.5M, but his actual salary owed is a miniscule $750,000. In addition, Kerfoot can play all 3 forward positions and can play in a team's top six or in a middle six role and is also an effective penalty killer.
Simply put, if the Leafs are open to moving Kerfoot to open up some space to sign Rasmus Sandin and perhaps lock down one more forward via free agency, Kyle Dubas should put in a call to Wild GM Bill Guerin to see if there's a fit there. The Wild currently have 4.31M in cap space available, which is more than enough to absorb Kerfoot's full $3.5M and still leave them with enough cap space to sign another depth piece at $750K-$800K.
Kerfoot, being a bit of a Swiss army knife, could fill a number of needs for the Wild and has played in the Central Division before, as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. He's coming off of a strong season and could slot in nicely with Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno (or Mats Zuccarello) on the Wild's second line.
The other great thing for the Wild is that Kerfoot likely wouldn't break the bank. We just saw Blue Jackets winger Oliver Bjorkstrand dealt for a 3rd and 4th round draft picks last week. Given that Kerfoot produced at the same rate, but provided better positional flexibility and can be a primary PK guy, I'd imagine he could fetch a slightly higher return. Perhaps two 3rd rounders or even a 2nd round pick. The Blue Jackets were also several million dollars over the cap and were in a bit of a corner and dealing from a position of weakness. The Leafs, on the other hand, can become cap compliant by simply demoting two players or trading defenseman Justin Holl, who may also be on the move this summer anyway, and demoting one of Wayne Simmonds or Kyle Clifford.
Either way, this does appear to be a good fit. The only question now is does GM Kyle Dubas actually intend to move Kerfoot this summer or is that a move that he looks to make closer to the deadline? Still, there's no denying that Kerfoot would be a nice fit for the Minnesota Wild.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 29 | 619 ANSWERS Minnesota Wild scouring the trade market for a forward; the Leafs are an ideal trade partner Will Alex Kerfoot start the season as a Leaf? | ||
| Yes, he's a lifer | 117 | 18.9 % |
| No, he's a goner | 260 | 42 % |
| Only if they can't upgrade | 242 | 39.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
