The Toronto Maple Leafs defense was expected to have a new look next season with the likely departures of veteran Ron Hainsey and Jake Gardiner, but you can now add Nikita Zaitsev to that list.
The 27-year-old blueliner informed Leafs management that he is requesting a trade for personal reasons after three seasons with Toronto and GM Kyle Dubas indicated that he met with Zaitsev’s agent Daniel Milstein at the NHL Draft Combine in Buffalo on Thursday and that he will endeavor to facilitate a trade.
“I’ve met with Dan here and I don’t want to get too much into the details, that is up to Dan and Nikita on their end, but that will be our goal to try to find a fresh start for him for his own personal and private reasons.” Dubas said. “In the case of what it means for our team, it’s not any definitive type of ‘he’s definitely not going to be back’, because especially as the year went on (and) paired with (Jake) Muzzin, his value began to shine through a little bit more.”
Milstein would not elaborate on the reasons for Zaitsev requesting a trade when contacted on Friday, but it could stem from how he has been utilized by the Leafs and head coach Mike Babcock. After being recruited heavily while playing in the KHL, the Moscow-born blueliner signed with Toronto in 2016 and scored 36 points as a rookie, seeing regular time on the power play.
Zaitsev signed a seven-year, $31.5 Million extension the following summer and saw his role change to a shutdown defender, penalty killer and shot blocker, which did not appear to be in his comfort zone. In his second and third seasons, the right-handed defenseman ran into injury and illness difficulties and playing mostly as the safety valve for Jake Gardiner, saw his offensive numbers plummet to 27 points (8 goals, 19 assists) in 141 regular season games.
The challenge for Dubas will be to find a landing spot for Zaitsev. Rumors prior to the February 25th trade deadline indicated that the Leafs were looking to deal Zaitsev and that there were interested parties. His $4.5 Million AAV is reasonable for a RH shot blueliner if a team believes he fits into their top four and can return to a more productive offensive role, but the five remaining years left on his deal is what will likely necessitate Toronto to take back a salary with term remaining or throw in a young player in a larger package deal.
The Leafs GM provided little update on any progress being made with restricted free agents Mitch Marner, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson, other than saying that discussions with the representatives of all three are ongoing, but did say that the trade chatter going into his second offseason is much different than when he took over from Lou Lamoriello 12 months ago.
“It’s been way different because last year, I didn’t really have that run up from the end of the season until now, but as soon as the season ended, you start going around to every team, making your calls and seeing where they are at for the summer.” Dubas said. “At (last year’s Draft Combine) was really the first time that I really started to get immersed into what other teams summer plans were, so I feel I have a much better grasp on what they are trying to accomplish this year and I’ve had a year of building relationships with the other managers, so (I’m) much more prepared.”
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