Will Jake Muzzin be expendable?
Chris Johnston of the NorthStar Bets: (mailbag) The Toronto Maple Leafs now have left-handed defensemen Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, Mark Giordano and Rasmus Sandin (RFA). That may mean that Muzzin becomes expendable. The Maple Leafs didn’t want to trade Sandin at the trade deadline, so it’s hard to see why they would want to move him now.
Will the Maple Leafs look to make a big move? Trade or free agent route?
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: (mailbag) Believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs will at least see changes could be made at forward, defense and in net.
The Maple Leafs could get a big haul for William Nylander if they looked to move him. Jake Muzzin and Alex Kerfoot should have some trade value.
Making a big move would be bringing in someone like J.T. Miller.
Though they may all not be available this offseason, they could look at forwards Timo Meier, Nikolaj Ehlers, Dylan Larkin, or Tyler Bertuzzi; defensemen Jakob Chychrun or Colton Parayko; or goaltender John Gibson.
If the Leafs moved out salary and then looked at the UFA market, first-tier players could be Kris Letang, John Klingberg, Evgeni Malkin or Filip Forsberg, with the second-tier being David Perron, Darcy Kuemper, Andrew Copp or Vincent Trocheck.
Matthew Knies seems like an untouchable prospect but if they could acquire a developed roster player for Nick Roberston or Roni Hirvonen, they may consider it.
Would put the max contract that would do for pending UFA Jack Campbell at three years at $4.4 million per. Think he’ll walk and will look for something that starts with a 5.
Pending UFAs that wouldn’t come cheap that they might have some interest in could include Nick Paul, Andrew Copp, Andre Burakovsky and Ondrej Palat. The trade route or going with Nick Robertson in the top six may be the less expensive route.
