It’s Black Friday and in the spirit of that, it’s time for Brad Treliving to start offering up some deals to rival GMs on Maple Leafs.
Is it too early to say blow it up and shift into selling mode for the Maple Leafs? Possibly, but if the Leafs aren’t there yet it seems like they are a couple weeks of mediocre hockey away from the conversation shifting from pessimistic to realistic.
So, in the spirit of pessimism, it’s time to start looking at the Maple Leafs from a selling perspective. Or even from a buying perspective or a “roster player for roster player” perspective, and determine who has what value, who the Leafs should want to trade, and whether there are barriers to moving that player.
The Untouchables (2)
John Tavares (Full No Movement Clause)– Tavares wants to stick with the Leafs. His contract says that. He’s also been arguably the team MVP this season so unless Tavares specifically asks for a trade out of Toronto the Leafs continuing to be happy with a productive centre on an amazing contract seems like the right decision.
Matthew Knies– Knies is locked into a long-term, fairly team-friendly deal himself. Say what you will about Treliving, but some of his re-signings have hit the mark. Knies has continued to improve this season in a year where a lot of Leafs have taken a step back and as one of the youthful options in the lineup that can bridge the Matthews-Nylander-Tavares era to the next one, keeping Knies around seems pretty obvious especially when you remember how long this organization spent looking for a player like Knies before he was drafted.
Borderline untouchable (2)
William Nylander (Full No Movement Clause)– There is a scenario where we see William Nylander retire as the Maple Leafs’ all-time points leader and considering how much time the media has spent trying to trade him on behalf of the Maple Leafs, that seems funny to me.
The twist with Nylander is I can get where his “nothing rattles me” attitude and his desire to do things his way might not work with all coaches or hockey ops departments, and a bad decision could be made to move him.
The idea that he could bring a franchise resetting type return is why he’s borderline untouchable instead of completely untouchable.
Easton Cowan: The reality with Cowan is that the Leafs shouldn’t be giving up on one of their only high-end prospects turned everyday NHLers, but if Brad Treliving is desperate GM who wants to win now there is the possibility that Cowan gets dangled to bring in a bona fide star. It would be a mistake, but it wouldn’t be the first mistake the Leafs have made.
So, it’s come to this… (1)
Auston Matthews (Full No Movement Clause): There is a much lengthier conversation that needs to happen about the future of Auston Matthews in Toronto if the Leafs continue to underperform. The situation isn’t far off of what needs to be considered with Nylander but Matthews’ injury history, declining offensive outputs, and the fact that his contract is up before Nylander’s is why the inconceivable notion of moving on from Matthews might gain some traction by the offseason.
Better off keeping them unless someone overpays (2)
Nick Robertson: A change of scenery for Robertson is a constant rumour and somewhat ironically while he’s raising his trade value, he’s also made a strong case for why he should be kept on the Leafs. The team needs shooters, a youth movement, and Robertson’s north/south speed is better than most on the Leafs.
In contrast, Robertson is pending free agent that will be due for a raise. He’s on a sub-$2M contract that would make him fairly easy to move for a good return. And even if the Leafs are going in a new direction with younger players, Robertson’s size and defensive zone play is a reason to move on.
Steven Lorentz: Lorentz has delivered at or above expectations for a fourth liner and while that might have attracted some interest from around the NHL, it’s hard to imagine that anyone is going to offer the Leafs a return that warrants getting rid of a solid role player.
Easy sells (4)
Scott Laughton: So the Leafs aren’t likely to find someone who will pay what they did for Laughton. Even at $1.5M he’s not worth a 1st and an NHL ready prospect. That said, he’s worth something and given how poorly things have gone in Toronto for him, there probably isn’t much interest from either side in renewing the contract.
With Jacob Quillan waiting for a fourth line centre role or the Leafs having Lorentz or Travis Boyd who could also step into that role, cashing out on a bad transaction needs to happen.
Bobby McMann: This hasn’t been Bobby McMann’s best year but as a former 20-goal scorer with a $1.35M cap hit, speed, and a mean streak, someone will take McMann off the Leafs hands.
Admittedly, McMann will be missed, but as he gets older and the fact that his next contract potentially won’t be as team friendly comes into consideration, Toronto getting the best return they can on Bobby is the right call.
Calle Jarnkrok (10-team No Trade List): On his own, Jarnkrok probably doesn’t get the Leafs a return that is worth punching a hole in their lineup over. Even if the Leafs go into full seller mode they’ll need someone to play for them and Jarnkrok’s versatility would be appreciated.
That said, Jarnkrok might become an asset through salary retention or by letting another club dump some salary on the Leafs. Toronto taking on salary dumps might be one of their stronger plays in both keeping a full roster and acquiring some worthwhile futures and Jarnkrok is likely to have appeal to playoff bound teams looking for versatile depth.
Matias Maccelli: Maccelli could have been in the better off keeping category based off his age and the fact that it might be in the club’s best interest to give him an extended look. The problem is that as a restricted free agent the qualifying offer on Maccelli would be too high for what he’s delivering on and if he goes a full season like this after a tough year in Utah last season, he’s starting to tell you he’s done.
At $3.4M, Maccelli might not look like an easy sell, but the reality is that Maccelli is an easy retention option for the Maple Leafs and at $1.7M as a young secondary scorer that the new team would hold the rights to, Maccelli starts looking like an attractive trade chip.
Motivated Sellers (3)
Max Domi (13-team No Trade List): It’s hard to see a path forward where the Maple Leafs and Max Domi are successful together. He’s an offensive player but not consistently so. There’s no defensive game to speak of here and there never will be. And he’s going to continue to take a lot of penalties born of bad decisions. At $3.75M no one in the league is going to take him.
At $1.875M the perception of Domi might change. He starts looking like potential centre depth and cheap secondary scoring. And from the Maple Leafs point of view, retaining 50% of his contract is cheaper or shorter than buying Domi out, which seems inevitable if there is a drastic improvement forthcoming.
Dakota Joshua (12-team No Trade List): Dakota is a perfectly fine fourth-liner that can play up in the lineup on some clubs. He is a victim of unrealistic expectations born of an unsustainably good season and now his contract makes it hard to see his value in the lineup.
The Maple Leafs shouldn’t retain salary to send Joshua on his way. If they can find a team that also finds themselves with a player in need of a change of scenery, or there is another GM out there that wants to roll the dice on Joshua the same way that Treliving did, the Maple Leafs need to explore this.
Nicolas Roy: Things haven’t gone as planned for Nicolas Roy in Toronto. There was talk of unlocking his full potential in the right situations or that he was the right shot centre who was going to make the Leafs’ centre depth the envy of the league once again but instead he’s been even more underwhelming than Dakota Joshua or Matias Maccelli so far.
Roy seems like a player that the Leafs should be curious about holding onto if they are considering a coaching change because he’ll be the right fit for someone, but whether it is Berube or personnel that Berube is putting Roy with, things haven’t been great so far and if there is still an interested market in Roy, the Leafs should see what they can do to maximize the return on a player that should be considered a solid defensive 3C option.
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