The Leafs have reportedly checked in on a potential Jake Muzzin replacement with a significant amount of term remaining on his deal
Earlier today, TSN's Darren Dreger reported that the Leafs are expected to update everyone on the status of injured veteran Jake Muzzin at some point this week. The news is not expected to be good news, as Dreger expects the Leafs to shut Muzzin down for the season.
Ahead of this announcement, his colleague over at TSN and fellow Insider, Pierre LeBrun, reported via a recent submission for The Athletic that the Leafs have touched base with the Nashville Predators regarding blueliner Mattias Ekholm. Ekholm has 3 years remaining after this one and carries a lofty cap hit of $6.25M.
If the Ryan O'Reilly/Noel Acciari trade and the salary cap implications that came with it wasn't already a pretty good indicator that Muzzin will miss the remainder of the season, the fact that the Leafs have inquired on Ekholm should tell us all we need to know. Muzzin carries a $5.625M cap hit through next season, but has spend nearly this entire year on LTIR. If his cervical spine injury is as serious as initially thought, his career is likely over and a replacement may be necessary for the Leafs, since they're no longer in need of a temporary solution, but rather a more permanent one.
While the Leafs have checked in on Ekholm, LeBrun wonders how serious they'll be, mostly because of the asking price, which seems somewhat prohibitive as of this moment.
But his age, 33 in May, is a concern given the term left on the deal. The asking price would be high � perhaps as much as two first-round picks. Not sure there's a team out there willing to pay that. But at the very least, the Preds are talking to teams about him.
I think the Maple Leafs, for example, have looked at him, but I don't easily see how Toronto can meet the asking price, and there's the issue of his contract."
-LeBrun on the Leafs having checked in on Ekholm
The Leafs have gotten a lot out of a large collection of depth defensemen this season, but they simply can't count on the same level of production and support again next season from a group of players with whom the law of averages will certainly catch up. We do know that Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano, Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren and Conor Timmins will be back next season. We can't necessarily say the same for Justin Holl, Jordie Benn and Victor Mete. Holl and Benn are pending UFAs, while Mete is a pending RFA.
Should the Leafs pursue a deal for Ekholm, he'd comfortably slot into the top-4, but would likely push Conor Timmins down to 7th defenseman - a role he has played for much of this season as well.
| POLL | ||
22 FEVRIER | 463 ANSWERS The Leafs have reportedly checked in on a potential Jake Muzzin replacement with a significant amount of term remaining on his deal Should the Leafs make a move to acquire Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm? | ||
| Yes | 217 | 46.9 % |
| No | 111 | 24 % |
| Depends on the price | 135 | 29.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
