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The Toronto Maple Leafs have finally freed defenseman Frank Corrado, who was moved just before the 3pm NHL Trade Deadline to the Pittsburgh Penguins for veterans Eric Fehr, Steven Oleksy and a 2017 fourth round pick.
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There continue to be indications that the Leafs are open to making moves before 3pm, but what form these moves take is now unclear in the aftermath of the rental deal for Boyle earlier this week.
According to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports, the trade with Tampa was a larger deal that involved forward Valtteri Filppula as well as Boyle, but the 32-year-old has a limited no-trade clause and rejected the trade.
Filppula played eight years for Babcock in Detroit before signing as a free agent in Tampa in 2013 and has another year left on a five-year, $25 Million contract. The Lightning have been looking to jettison some salary to open up cap space to sign restricted free agents Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin this summer, which likely means that GM Steve Yzerman was not looking to take back a veteran like Tyler Bozak, but a young prospect and/or a draft choice.
The question of why Filppula would not waive his no-trade clause is interesting. Is it because he did not want to play for Babcock again or because the Leafs are deep at center and he would not get enough offensive opportunities to make a case for a new contract in 2018? Could it be also how the Leafs have buried the contracts of Milan Michalek and Brooks Laich in the minors?
The Leafs have over $16 Million in available cap space to use before the deadline and the contracts of Joffrey Lupul and Nathan Horton can be placed on LTIR next season to free up cap space for a player, but it is puzzling why the Leafs would be looking to add forward depth when the area that has a crying need to be addressed is the blueline.
If the Leafs go the rental direction before the deadline, players that could be in the mix are Anaheim’s Kevin Bieksa or Calgary blueliner Dennis Wideman. Bieksa has another year left at $4 Million, but has a no-movement clause and would have to be protected in the expansion draft. Wideman is an unrestricted free agent with a $5.25 Million cap hit.
Another possibility for the Leafs could be taking on dead money for assets. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports that the Edmonton Oilers are trying to move remaining $3.25 Million cap hit for Andrew Ference, whose contract expires at the end of this season, which would create cap flexibility for Edmonton to make another move.
This could result in Toronto recouping the draft pick they dealt to get Boyle.
Check back throughout the day for updates.
The Toronto Maple Leafs got another top-notch effort from goaltender Frederik Andersen and rookie Auston Matthews scored his club-leading 31st goal of the season, but once again the Leafs defense cost them, as Tomas Hertl scored the game-winner with 1:23 left in regulation to give the San Jose Sharks a 3-1 victory at the SAP Center on Tuesday.
“I don't know if that was a turnover as much as we had three people back and they had two and we didn't sort it out and they shot it in our net. That part was disappointing when you're that close (to getting at least a point).” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. “(The Sharks) were better than us in the second half of the first period and then the third period. The best team normally wins. When you hang on like we did, you give yourself a chance. You've got to find a way to get a point for sure. That part was disappointing”
Matthews opened the scoring in the second on a power play, converting on a Josh Leivo pass to tie Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine for the NHL rookie scoring lead, but just under six minutes later, the Sharks tied it up on as a Brendan Dillon point shot beat Andersen, who kept the Leafs in the game with a 34-save effort.
The game remained tied late into the third, but a misplay by defensemen Jake Gardiner and Matt Hunwick on Patrick Marleau, allowed the Sharks veteran to dish it to Hertl, who fired just under the crossbar for the winning goal.
Newly acquired Brian Boyle played 12:33 on a line with Matt Martin and Josh Leivo and on the penalty killing unit in, and won eight of 17 faceoffs his Leafs debut.
“I thought he was fine. He travelled all the way across the country today and played, but what he's going to do is help us. He's a veteran guy on the bench, it's good for the coach.” Babcock said.” I heard him one time say, 'Just settle down.' Even that, to me, is a positive thing. He's going to be an important guy for us but as a group we can play better than we did tonight.”
It was a bad night all around for the Leafs pursuit of a playoff spot, losing in regulation and Boston, Florida and Philadelphia all earning two points. Toronto will wait to see what further moves are made on deadline day before completing their Calfornia road trip with back-to-back games on Thursday in Los Angeles and Friday in Anaheim.
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