UPDATE: 8:45pm
There continues to be mixed signals on how close the Maple Leafs to trading Phil Kessel. ESPN's Pierre LeBrun believes that for Toronto to be able to get assets back for the 27-year-old, the club would have to retain some of his $8 Million salary.
Sportsnet's Chris Johnston indicated on FAN 590 Tuesday afternoon that a deal between the Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins is possible and might be more likely than potential trades with the Chicago Blackhawks for winger Patrick Sharp or St. Louis Blues for TJ Oshie because those clubs would not be willing to take back salary in a potential deal.
Toronto has expressed a willingness to take back significant salary in a trade to offset Kessel's cap hit.
TSN's Darren Dreger was not as optimistic about a Kessel deal involving the Penguins or that anything involving the Leafs leading scorer is close, since Newport Sports(Kessel's representatives) have not been contacted by Toronto management.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs made decisions on their restricted free agents, extending qualifying offers to center Nazem Kadri and winger Richard Panik on Monday. Defenseman Martin Marincin, acquired in a deal with Edmonton on Saturday for a fourth round pick and forward Brad Ross, received a qualifying offer from the Oilers prior to the trade.
The Leafs chose the club-elected arbitration route with goaltender Jonathan Bernier, which made a qualifying offer unnecessary.
The club did not extend offers for defenseman Andrew MacWilliam and Eric Knodel, making them unrestricted free agents on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old MacWilliam played 117 games for the AHL Toronto Marlies over three seasons and a 12-game tryout with the Leafs late in the year, while Knodel split time between the Marlies and ECHL Orlando Solar Bears.
With the return of TJ Brennan to the organization and young defenseman Stuart Percy, Rinat Valiev, Matt Finn, Tom Nilsson and Viktor Loov needing ice time to gain experience, it is likely that the organization decided to not bring back the two NCAA products.
MacWilliam and Knodel join Eric Brewer, David Booth, Colton Orr, Frazer McLaren, Troy Bodie, Kevin Marshall, Zach Sill and Trevor Smith as those who will hit the open market on July 1.
With new head coach Mike Babcock having some say in adding players who can play his particular brand of hockey, it is likely that most or all of the players on this list will not be back when training camp starts in September.
Reports prior to the weekend indicated that Toronto and Panik were close on a new deal. The 24-year-old Slovakian winger showed flashes after being claimed off of waivers from Tampa Bay in October, scoring 11 goals in 76 games.
The potential for a holdout is there with Kadri, who dropped from 50 to 39 points in the second year of his two-year, $5.8 Million bridge deal and had off-ice issues that forced the team to suspend the 24-year-old center for three games in March.
The two sides may have trouble coming to an agreement on the term of the deal, as Kadri’s camp made noises during the season about a long-term extension, while the Leafs want to see what they have in the 2009 first rounder and would prefer a second bridge deal.
A two-year contract may be the compromise position for both, which would bring Kadri to unrestricted free agency at 26 and give Toronto two more years at a reasonable price.
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With the Leafs in an uncertain posture and the free agent class not being as desirable as in past years, the club is not expected to make any big splashes in the frenzy that begins on Wednesday.
“I don't know that we will be the headline stealers in the NHL on July 1st, but certainly we'll be active." Shanahan said. "You might have a different set of targets (than) some of the teams."
Toronto is not expected to be one of the clubs bidding up Anaheim winger Matt Beleskey(who is said to have over a dozen suitors) or willing to sign players to long term deals, but might go down the road that they did last summer, signing useful depth players like Daniel Winnik and Mike Santorelli to short-term, economical deals that can be moved at the trade deadline for future assets.
Sportsnet FAN 590’s
Andrew Walker reports that the Leafs may be kicking tires on veteran forward Curtis Glencross. The 32-year-old winger scored 13 goals for Calgary and Washington and may be willing to take a short term deal.
Another possibility is 25-year-old center Cody Hodgson, who declined from 20 goals to just six in 2014-15 and may be looking for a landing spot where he could have an opportunity for a bounce back year.
Cody Franson is expected to be one of the more sought after free agent defenseman on Wednesday and according to
ProHockeyTalk, the Leafs and four other teams have expressed interest.
In spite of falling off after being traded to Nashville in February, it is expected that the right-handed shooting Franson will get offers in excess of $5 Million per season on a long term deal along with free agent blueliners Andrej Sekera and Mike Green. It is hard to imagine that the Leafs would be interested in a long term commitment to Franson if they have not moved team captain Dion Phaneuf beforehand.
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One factor in not being able to pull off a Phil Kessel deal at the NHL Draft may have been the signing bonus due to the Leafs winger on July 1. Kessel’s salary for 2015-16 is $10 Million, but after the $4 Million signing bonus is paid, Kessel’s base salary is a more palatable $6 Million.
Sportsnet’s
Chris Johnston points out that Kessel’s salary for the remaining seven years after the signing bonus is paid on Wednesday is less than his $8 Million cap hit, which could make moving him slightly easier.
Along with the much reported interest in Kessel from the Pittsburgh Penguins, ESPN’s
Pierre LeBrun says that the Calgary Flames contacted the Leafs about their leading scorer, but that Toronto maintained their stance about not retaining any of salary, choosing instead to take back bad contracts.
Kessel-to-Calgary would make a lot of sense for a Flames team in need of a boost in scoring, with significant room under the salary cap and with ex-Leafs GM Brian Burke as their Team President.
Will update
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