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Bolland A Dodged Bullet For Leafs

August 25, 2016, 4:59 PM ET [148 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Over the last 17 months, the most successful aspect of the Toronto Maple Leafs reorganization under Brendan Shanahan and Lou Lamoriello has been their ability to shed onerous long-term contracts with relatively little salary cap ramifications going forward.

They have also benefited from a little bit of luck.

In February 2015, the Leafs were fortunate that the Columbus Blue Jackets were desperate to jettison the five remaining uninsured years of Nathan Horton’s contract, enabling Toronto to ship out the buyout-proof David Clarkson and put the injured Horton on LTIR.

Five months later, Shanahan engineered the massive deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins to move out Phil Kessel one year into his eight-year, $64 Million contract for a package of prospects and draft picks, with the Leafs only retaining 15% of the winger’s $8 Million salary.

Last February, Lamoriello moved Dion Phaneuf’s contract with another five years remaining to Ottawa for a trio of players with significant salaries (Milan Michalek, Colin Greening and Jared Cowen), all of which will have their contracts expire at the end of the 2016-17 season.

The fact that Toronto recouped future assets and will have just the $1.2 Million of Kessel’s contract on the books after the upcoming season is a feat that should be acknowledged, especially in the wake of the trade made between the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.

Florida earlier this year traded the last year of Marc Savard’s contract to the New Jersey Devils and once again moved a player who may never play again, shipping injured center Dave Bolland to the Coyotes for a pair of draft picks.

The Mimico, ON native was acquired from the Blackhawks in June 2013 after scoring the Cup winning goal against the Bruins. Bolland played well early in the year but suffered a severed ankle tendon in Vancouver that had him sidelined for most of the season.

The two-time Stanley Cup winner did not accept the Leafs shorter term offer in July 2014 (reportedly in the neighborhood of $5 Million) and Florida GM Dale Tallon (who drafted Bolland in Chicago) stepped up with more term and money to get him to come to the Sunshine State.

To get Arizona to take the remaining three years and $16.5 Million of the former Leaf’s five-year, $27.5 Million contract, Panthers GM Tom Rowe sacrificed 2015 first rounder Lawson Crouse in the deal.

It is likely that Toronto would not have been able to pull off another miracle in moving Bolland. The best-case scenario would have been another $5.5 Million being in the LTIR column on their ledger or that a top prospect like Kasperi Kapanen or William Nylander would have to be sacrificed to make a deal palatable.

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Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk is looking forward to competitive hockey after missing most of the second half of last season with a fractured foot. The big winger will be playing for the US in the World Cup of Hockey next month and is ready to go for the upcoming season in Toronto.

“It’s been a long break and getting started a little bit early is definitely a positive point for me,” van Riemsdyk said to the Sun’s Lance Hornby on Wednesday. “It gives me a little extra time to dial in my game. Everything’s great, no complications, no issues.”

Van Riemsdyk has two years remaining at an economical $4.25 Million salary, which could make the 27-year-old winger an attractive commodity at the trade deadline or next summer, but his scoring ability and experience could be valuable playing with rookie center Auston Matthews.

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