Scout suggests that the Leafs may have already signed Rasmus Sandin

Coming into this offseason, Sandin was one of the more likely RFAs on the market to be approached with an offer sheet opportunity, what with the Leafs being in such a financial bind and the player feeling somewhat buried behind veterans Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and Mark Giordano on his strong side. Still, even if he was approached with an offer sheet, it would seem that Sandin is not interested in actually signing one.

Is there a reason for his lack of interest in pursuing what would likely be a bigger pay day with a better opportunity to play top-4 minutes elsewhere? According to Sam Tirpak, a Slovak scout, there might be.

What if Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has taken a page out of the Lou Lamoriello handbook and has already signed Sandin? In that scenario, he could simply be withholding the terms of the deal while he completes his offseason tinkering to become cap compliant. Dubas was groomed under Lamoriello, after all. Is it too much to assume he picked up some tricks along the way?

One benefit to the Leafs not having announced the Sandin deal (if he has indeed already signed) is that teams won't try to rake the Leafs over the coals in trade negotiations, knowing that the team is between $3M-$4M over the cap, much like we saw with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who were several million dollars over the cap before having to deal Oliver Bjorkstrand for a very underwhelming return. One would have to assume that had Columbus traded Bjorkstrand BEFORE announcing the Patrik Laine trade, they wouldn't have been negotiating the trade from a position of weakness and could have demanded a better return for Bjorkstrand. But I digress..

In this scenario, if Sandin is already signed, the Leafs can simply tell other GMs from around the league during trade negotiations that the Sandin contract is a non-issue and that they won't be short-changed in any deal involving Kerfoot or Holl and expect to get fair value. Dubas can use his patience as a weapon here. Teams are going to begin to get antsy and want to put their finishing touches on their rosters before training camp begins next month.

If any GMs have the names Alex Kerfoot or Justin Holl circled hoping that the Leafs will panic-move one or both at a bargain rate, they may begin to consider that the Leafs do have other options and come up on their offers. After all, they're not nothing assets. Kerfoot is a versatile forward who can play all 3 forward positions and help with special teams and Holl is an excellent rush defender.

I thought this was an interesting theory. Dubas is known to often have a few tricks up his sleeve when it comes to the salary cap, so I'd anticipate that the Sandin situation is a puzzle that he has already solved.