Colorado Avalanche, Salary Cap, and Making Room For Trades?
Peter Baugh of The Athletic: The Colorado Avalanche are jammed right up to the salary cap. Joe Sakic and company have a challenge if they want to acquire additional talent between now and March 21st.
Likely Jacob MacDonald and Stefan Matteau could stay on LTIR the rest of the season. That frees up $1.475 million in cap space. Every day becomes an asset for Sakic and the Avalanche. Flexibility is somewhat on their side too. They can let both their All PostsLTIR players on the roster and then just bury them in the AHL.
Can Colorado acquire a player like Claude Giroux ($8.25 million AAV)? The answer is yes. They are going to need a considerable amount of help.
Is Philadelphia willing to retain up to 50% of his salary? The Flyers have said they will do whatever Giroux wants. There is a possibility a third team gets brought into the mix to retain further salary. Sweeteners would be needed but Colorado has them.
Anything is possible. It will just take…time.
Toronto Maple Leafs and the Trade Deadline
Jonas Siegel of The Athletic: Assets to the trade deadline are important. Moving pieces help make other trade happen or possible. Matthew Knies has to be Toronto’s top asset at this point. It would take a lot to move him but everything has to be considered — including the first round pick.
Some clamor for Nick Robertson to be moved but injuries could limit that chance. Topi Niemela is just 19 and putting together some season for Karpat. His stock is as high as it could be. Travis Dermott and Timothy Liljegren are there too. One of them is likely to be dealt this year or next year.
After that, the 2023 first-round pick may offer more benefit for Toronto to move than the 2022 version. It just buys more time honestly. There are several B-level prospects that can be moved as well.
One thing is for sure. Unlike the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto has more options than in years’ past. They will buy, just how much?