Muzzin resumes skating: What this means for the Leafs' deadline plans
After suffering his second concussion in a 6-week span against the Montreal Canadiens on February 21st, Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin was back on the ice on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena, skating on his own and shooting some pucks.
The veteran blueliner appeared to be moving quite well, which is good news, given how bad the collision with Habs defender Chris Wideman appeared to be. Here's a look at Muzzin on the ice from TSN's Mark Masters at SBA:
Last week, Leafs GM Kyle Dubas spoke about the Leafs not wanting to keep Muzzin on LTIR until the playoffs if he could avoid it and if Muzzin was able to return to full health, Dubas had indicated that he would play, meaning that there would be no LTIR cap relief for the Buds and that they may only have one move left before the deadline.
Now, while Muzzin skating solo isn't necessarily an indicator that he'll be good to go before the end of the season next month, it appears more likely than not that he'll work his way back before the playoffs.
In terms of how his impacts Dubas' ability to make an impact move at the deadline - it doesn't. The Leafs still have up to approximately $2M to spend at the deadline. If they enter into a trade agreement with a pair of teams that would allow for double salary retention, he could yet land a major piece.
The other option is moving out a player with some salary and term, like Alexander Kerfoot ($3.5M this year and next). Kerfoot has been relegated to mostly fourth line and PK duties since Nick Robertson assumed the 2nd line LW role against the Canucks and Blue Jackets in back-to-back games. If Dubas moved out Kerfoot, it would open up a world of possibilities that might allow the Leafs to acquire multiple players at the deadline - perhaps in a single move with a team who has players that address multiple needs for the Buds.
It's really anyone's guess what's going to happen, but at this point, it would appear as though the Leafs are planning for life with Muzzin leading up to the playoffs rather than planning for life without him until the postseason begins.
