Things are about to pick up for the Leafs in a big way
These past few weeks have been relatively quiet for the Leafs, in case you haven't noticed. Aside from several rumours, we haven't had very many reports with tangible evidence to support many of the claims and rumours. However, that's about to change in short order and we should begin to see a bevy of moves and reports as early as Thursday.
With the draft now just 6 days out, teams have begun travelling to Nashville, where the 2023 NHL Entry Draft will be held next Wednesday and Thursday. As is always the case when you put the GMs and Presidents of 32 teams together, they're going to talk and moves that may have been close in the past may be pushed over the finish line.
The Leafs are one of the teams who have a significant amount of work ahead this summer, with as many as 20 UFAs and RFAs who are in need of new deals, plus the Auston Matthews and William Nylander extensions, which they are eligible to sign on July 1st. Since Matthews and Nylander can't officially sign until the 1st, we'll table that discussion for now.
Among the players in Toronto who are in need of new deals this summer who are likely to walk as UFAs, we have Justin Holl, Alexander Kerfoot, Wayne Simmonds, Zach Aston-Reese and Michael Bunting. Among the players in Toronto who may yet be back, if the Leafs can find a way to make the numbers work, we have Ryan O'Reilly, Luke Schenn, Noel Acciari and David Kampf.
The hope is that if the Leafs can find a taker for the final year of Matt Murray's deal, they'll be able to open up an additional $4.68M in cap space, which they can use to bring back a handful of these players or even potentially to reallocate to O'Reilly, if the former Conn Smythe Trophy winner would be willing to sign for a similar cap hit to what a departing Murray would open up. Beyond that, the Leafs will have around $9M in cap space with which to operate. That number becomes more than $14M once Jake Muzzin lands on LTIR.
The Leafs, in recent weeks, have been linked to a number of interesting names on the trade market, including Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny in Philly. They've also been connected to Lawson Crouse in Arizona, as The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta reported this week. If an upgrade in goal is the primary focus, both Connor Hellebuyck and John Gibson are expected to be moved this summer. If defense is the main area that you think needs to be addressed, there are at least 3 defensemen who might peak the Leafs' interest in Noah Hanifin, Brett Pesce and Travis Sanheim. With Brad Treliving, Daniel Briere, Bill Armstrong, Craig Conroy, Don Waddell and more having such easy access to one another in Nashville over the next few days, there's a pretty good chance that something gets done.
As it stands, the Leafs only have 3 draft picks in next week's draft - 1st, 5th and 6th round picks. There's a pretty good chance that the Leafs will either make trades to acquire more picks or perhaps use their 1st rounder this year to acquire a player they really like.
The other factor here is that just about every agent you can think of will be present in Nashville as well, which is likely to also lead to some contract extensions getting done at the dinner table, face-to-face, rather than negotiations taking place over the phone, via text or on a Zoom call.
While we can't pinpoint the exact timeframe when the moves will begin to flow in like rushing rapids, we can tell you that it will be soon. Last summer, we saw more than 50 deals announced in the week and a half leading up to the draft. With just 6 days remaining until this summer's draft, the flood is coming, so we'll do our best to keep up with all of the info that is sure to be coming in.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 22 | 269 ANSWERS Things are about to pick up for the Leafs in a big way How many trades will the Leafs be a part of over the next week? | ||
| None | 33 | 12.3 % |
| 1 or 2 | 124 | 46.1 % |
| 3 or 4 | 89 | 33.1 % |
| 5 or more | 23 | 8.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
