Saying that the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be among the busiest teams this offseason is not exactly a bold prediction, as no one except defenseman Morgan Rielly will be considered safe from being moved.
What is less certain the number of NHL clubs who will be looking to shake things up and may be potential trading partners with Toronto. The trade landscape will become more clear after the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, when teams who exit early determine what went wrong and what to do about it, but with less than two weeks to go in the regular season, there are already candidates.
Buffalo – There is nowhere to go but up for the Sabres, but GM Tim Murray is likely going to be active in adding talent after stripping down the NHL roster to get either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel in the 2015 Draft. Even after adding the pricey Zach Bogosian and Evander Kane in a February mega-deal with Winnipeg, the Sabres will over $25 Million in available cap space going into the summer.
Owner Terry Pegula is not shy about throwing millions at the problem and the Sabres will probably do that to snag a big name head coach, but they will also use the cap space. Toronto will not have any qualms about trading with a team in their own division if they get good value in return and Buffalo is stacked with young prospects.
Arizona – While the new Coyotes owner Andrew Barroway is not in the same hemisphere for free spending as Pegula, the club has only $37 Million allocated towards players next season, meaning that they will have to add at least $14 Million in salaries to get to the cap floor(more if the cap goes up) and will have to restock their roster after moving all their pending free agents and veteran defenseman Keith Yandle before the deadline.
Florida – The Panthers are a club on the cusp of being great and have a stockpile of young talent but need to add offense to get to the next level. Jaromir Jagr will help in that pursuit if GM Dale Tallon re-signs the 43-year-old winger, but the rumored interest in Phil Kessel makes sense with the clock ticking on veteran goalie Roberto Luongo prime years.
Dallas – The Stars were the vogue pick to be a contender in the Western Conference by many(including myself) but the hip injury to wunderkind Valeri Nichushkin, losing Tyler Seguin for a month and mighty struggles on defense(27th in goals against) will keep Lindy Ruff’s crew on the outside looking in this post-season.
GM Jim Nill is not shy about making big deals(like adding Jason Spezza from Ottawa last summer) and the Dallas blueline is thin. There have been rumors off and on that the Stars may have interest in Dion Phaneuf.
Colorado – The Avs took a step back in 2015 after surprisingly making the playoffs last season. The departure of Paul Stastny to St. Louis didn’t help, but they struggled more because they did not get same level of performance from youngsters Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan O’Reilly and failed once again to upgrade their blueline.
GM Joe Sakic has to resolve the O’Reilly situation this summer one way or another, as he will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season. Toronto has long been rumored to have interest in the 24-year-old center and would have the potential pieces to get a deal done(Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri, Phaneuf or Jake Gardiner).
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The chances of Nazem Kadri playing in the World Championships this spring appear slim, according to Sportsnet’s Damien Cox .
The Leafs center played for Canada last May, but Kadri’s contractual situation with Toronto is in limbo, as his two-year, $5.8 Million deal expires this summer. The 24-year-old will reportedly be looking for a long-term deal from the Leafs, but his lower offensive numbers (16 goals, 20 assists) and three-game disciplinary suspension earlier in the month likely has the club looking to agreeing to a short-term deal or offering salary arbitration.
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