Note : It will be a 24/7 hockey news cycle until Monday, so continue to check back to my column on Hockeybuzz throughout the day for the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
The surprising trade of David Clarkson to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday has given the Toronto Maple Leafs more options in the 48 hours leading up to Monday’s Trade Deadline, as the exchange for injured winger Nathan Horton provides Leafs GM Dave Nonis potential maneuverability under the salary cap if the club choses to retain salary to trade a player currently on their roster or take on a salaried player back in a deal.
Toronto has roughly $3 Million of available cap space after the trades of pending free agents Cody Franson, Mike Santorelli and Daniel Winnik and taking back Olli Jokinen and Zach Sill. Possible trades of Jokinen, David Booth and Korbinian Holzer would reduce the team’s payroll even further and the option of shifting Horton’s $5.3 Million cap hit to LTIR(which can only be used if the Leafs go over the $69 Million limit) would give Nonis the option of taking on players from teams up against the cap for additional draft choices or prospects that will aid in the coming Leafs rebuild.
Another possibility floated by Prime Time Sports’ Bob McCown was that the Leafs could flip Horton and his $5.3 Million in LTIR cap space to a team in danger of going over the cap like the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks or Los Angeles Kings, giving them room to add players at the deadline or sign their own players this summer.
The Leafs retained $200,000 of the two remaining years of Carl Gunnarsson’s contract in the deal for Roman Polak at the NHL Draft last June and kept half of Winnik’s $1.3 Million contract to extract a 2016 2nd round pick and 2015 4th round pick from Pittsburgh.
The club can retain salary of one more player this season, which could be used to reduce Jokinen’s $2.5 Million expiring contract to garner a mid-round pick or to lessen the cap hit of long-term deals to veterans Joffrey Lupul or Dion Phaneuf to make them more movable.
If the plans of Leafs management continue on the path to completely tear down the current roster and go through a three-to-five year rebuild, Horton’s deal remains a positive as it provides $5.3 Million in empty salary that can be used to reach the cap floor.
*******
The Leafs begin a three-game road swing on Saturday as they take on the Montreal Canadiens in their final trip to La Belle Provence this season. The two clubs played each other at the Bell Centre on February 14th, with the Habs winning 2-1 in a shootout.
Jonathan Bernier, who made 47 saves in a 3-2 win over Philadelphia on Thursday gets the start for Toronto, while likely Hart and Vezina Trophy candidate Carey Price will be between the pipes for Montreal.
*******
Rumors
Here is the latest chatter on Leafs players who could be on the move before Monday:
Joffrey Lupul
From CSN-NE’s Joe Haggerty indicates that the Bruins have interest in the 31-year-old winger and have had conversations with Toronto, but believes it will be difficult for Boston in their current cap-strapped situation to take on Lupul’s big contract, in spite of being a good fit to play on Boston’s top line with David Krejci and Milan Lucic once Krejci returns from injury in late March.
Tyler Bozak
The Toronto Sun’s Rob Longley reports rumors of the New York Rangers having interest in Bozak to bolster the club up the middle and as a faceoff specialist. Reports on Saturday indicate that the Rangers are likely to move forward Mats Zuccarello prior to Monday as the pending UFA is looking for more than $5 Million per season on a new deal. GM Glen Sather moved team captain Ryan Callahan prior to the deadline last season for Martin St. Louis(who had a year left on his contract) instead of losing the Rangers team captain as a free agent and could do the same with Zuccarello.
The Leafs could have interest in acquiring Zuccarello and flipping the speedy winger to a contender for future assets.
Olli Jokinen
TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the 36-year-old veteran has drawn some interest from NHL clubs looking for depth up the middle, but that the expected return for Jokinen will be a mid-to-low draft choice. Dion Phaneuf
Speculation from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that there is interest in Phaneuf from the Detroit Red Wings, but with the caveat that the Leafs take back a bad contract like Stephen Weiss(three more years at $4.9 Million) or Jakub Kindl(two more years at $2.4 Million), while Rob Longley indicates there to still be interest in the Leafs team captain from the LA Kings.
Detroit has room to fit Phaneuf’s $7 Million salary in their team budget and Toronto believes there will be deals available in the offseason that will not necessitate taking bad contracts. The Kings deal for Andrej Sekera on Wednesday would seem to eliminate any chance of a Phaneuf to LA deal unless it involved demoted center Mike Richards and all indications are that the Leafs are not interested in former Flyers team captain and two-time Stanley Cup winner.
*******
McEichel Race – Points(Games Played)
8. OTTAWA 62(59) 7. NEW JERSEY 60(62) 6. COLUMBUS 56(60) 5. TORONTO 55(61), 4. CAROLINA 53(60), 3. ARIZONA 47(62), 2. EDMONTON 46(62), 1. BUFFALO 43(62)
Current Leafs odds at winning Draft Lottery(8.5%)
Friday's results: New Jersey earns a single point in a 3-2 OT loss to Boston, Carolina moves to within two points of Toronto with a 3-0 shutout of Washington.
Games to Watch:
Carolina at NY Islanders New Jersey at Columbus(David Clarkson’s Blue Jacket debut) Arizona at Boston St.Louis at Edmonton Ottawa at San Jose
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
For Those on Twitter: Follow @mikeinbuffalo
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.