San Jose Sharks inform teams that they'd consider moving almost any player; there's at least one name the Leafs should inquire on

LeBrun stated on Thursday that the Sharks reached out to teams to reveal that they're willing to at least listen on any player not named Tomas Hertl. That would mean that players like captain Logan Couture, pending UFA Timo Meier, wingers Luke Kunin and Kevin Labanc, among others, could all be had for the right price.

The Sharks already have some quality young prospects to build around in William Eklund, Ozzy Weisblatt, Filip Bystedt and Thomas Bordeleau, so the time to transition into the rebuild phase is probably right.

Someone like Timo Meier could be a good piece for the Leafs to target if the Sharks are willing to move him. He's a high-volume shooter with a bit of an edge to his game who can play on either wing. He is off to a slow start this season, with just 2 assists in 9 games, but was nearly a point-per-game last season with 76 points in 77 games. He also had 15 points in 20 playoff games in 2018-19.

With Jake Muzzin on LTIR and with his future in the league in doubt, the Leafs have more than $5.4M in available cap space at the moment and could accommodate Meier's $6M cap hit this season by sending one player down to the AHL and rolling with a 22-man roster. Of course, when it comes time to activate Timothy Liljegren, Jordie Benn and Matt Murray, the Leafs will have to move some bodies around and send some money out, so acquiring someone like Meier would eliminate a lot of their flexibility. Having said that, there's little doubt that he would immediately improve the Leafs' top six.