Potential Salary Moves For The Maple Leafs Emerge
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a sticky financial situation, where their flexibility is constantly getting thinner.
With a decision soon to be made on starting goaltender Ilya Samsonov's next contract, the team is still $8.8 million over the salary cap.
In the attempt to fix this problem, some names have been thrown around in trade rumors, but there are also some other players who could be up on the chopping block.
Shake Up The Defense Core
As all Leafs fans know, there has been a consistent struggle with the team having a solid and deep defensive lineup, and some of their top names are taking up an unneeded chunk of salary.
Jake Muzzin is in a situation as to whether he will ever lace up a pair of skates again, and his contract will be getting put on the LTIR. But other players such as T.J. Brodie and Conor Timmins may be the ones to go in order to add on some flexibility.
Brodie will be reaching a $5 million cap hit this upcoming season, so sending him elsewhere would be unfortunate but substantial.
Timmins will be making around a million dollars for the next couple of seasons and it would not hurt to test his trade value and possibly get a pick and prospect in return.
Expensive Forwards Hit The Block
There are also some forwards on the Leafs roster that collectively will cause another hit to the salary and therefore may need to find another home.
Young superstar William Nylander is the main name of topic, as he is expected to have an absurd cap hit of around $10 million or more for the long-term and Toronto do not have that kind of flexibility. So to package him in a deal to get a superstar in return would not be bad at all.
As well, Calle Jarnkrok may be a name to toss up. He is not really fitting in with a top-six forward role with the Leafs, and his remaining 3 years at a cap hit of around $2 million a year may be unnecessary to carry going forward.
And finally, trade deadline acquisition Sam Lafferty may also lose his spot on the roster.
He has another year on his contract and will be making $1.15 million next season. But with a fourth-line spot as his definite place, he blocks the way for young prospects to get their shot, which will ultimately mean moving on from him.
As Read On Maple Leafs Daily -
The Leafs need to free up some cap space badly; here are some trade potential candidates
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