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The Cat and Mouse game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and teams interested in Phil Kessel, Dion Phaneuf, and other core players continued through last weekend at the NHL Draft in Sunrise, Fla.. And it could go into the month of July as the Leafs attempt to maximize their return in potential deals and avoid limiting themselves with long term cap ramifications that last into the next decade.
“We had some talks, there were some discussions that were initiated here on the floor with teams that are still alive and they were under no rush, we were under no rush,… Toronto boss Brendan Shanahan said on Saturday. “Nothing materialized that we thought was going to benefit the Leafs in any way. We will see where we are in the next month or two and if we have to come to camp (not getting) everything done that we wanted to get done, that's fine as well.…
Toronto is said to be willing to take back significant contracts back in deals to alleviate difficulty in fitting Kessel’s $8 million or Phaneuf’s $7 million salary, but is adamant about not retaining of a percentage of their salaries.
Retaining salary would have cap ramifications for the length of the term remaining on contracts being moved, meaning that if the Leafs agreed to pay 25% of Kessel’s $8 million salary to get a deal done, they would be taking a $2 million cap hit until the end of the 2021-22 season.
Andy Stirckland of Fox Sports reported Monday that the Leafs have told at least one team they're willing to retain $2 million of Kessel's salary, while the Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta indicates that the LA Kings want Toronto to pay nearly the same amount to make a Phaneuf deal more palatable, which is reflective of other teams thinking they can use the pressure on the Leafs to make significant moves to force their inexperienced management team into a deal more favorable to them.
The counter tactic appears to be talk of the Leafs willingness to engage in a “hybrid rebuild… as described by TSN’s Bob McKenzie, keeping some of their core group. Chatter over the weekend mentioned that Leafs coach Mike Babcock would welcome having Phaneuf in his blueline corps and that the Leafs captain may not be going anywhere. Same with center Tyler Bozak, whose availability did not draw much attention in Florida.
TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on Monday that Kessel may possibly return to Toronto in July to work with ex-Leaf Gary Roberts.
This appears to be an effort to show Toronto's lack of urgency of moving their core pieces unless given a reason otherwise and being open to having them return to start next season.
The only saving grace for the Leafs if they are forced to retain salary on Kessel and/or Phaneuf is the extra buffer created by the contract of injured winger Nathan Horton. His $5.3 million salary can be placed on long term injured reserved over the next five seasons if there is no change in his degenerative back condition and that could offset any retained salary for Kessel or Phaneuf in the Leafs spend up to the cap ceiling.
If Toronto is able to take back salary instead of retaining in any deals, they would give them even more options on how to allocate the extra room created by Horton’s status.
Watch for this negotiating tug-of-war to continue over the next few weeks.
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Check out this interview with CTV-London(and Leaf Buzz co-host) Norman James and Leafs 2015 top pick Mitch Marner:
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