Could the Coyotes offer sheet Matthews and trade value of Perlini?
Craig Morgan of The Athletic: (mailbag) Asked if there is any chance that Auston Matthews could end up playing with the Arizona Coyotes one day. there is always a chance, but unlikely the Maple Leafs would trade him or even let him get to free agency. There has been lots of speculation that the Coyotes should send him a huge offer sheet if he becomes eligible to receive one. says:
“If Matthews were to reach RFA status and nobody offer-sheeted him, the league should just get rid of offer sheets because there could be no greater cause to use one. It could cripple the Leafs, who would surely match it but then face cap issues elsewhere on their roster. That said, I don’t think there’s any way the Leafs will let Matthews reach RFA status this summer. They have to sign him before then, and he’ll be worth every penny of his massive deal.”
Coyotes GM John Chayka is not one to like trading assets when their value is low. Can’t put any odds of the Coyotes trading Brendan Perlini or what the return might be. He’s been close to being a healthy scratch and needs to become more consistent,
Maybe the Maple Leafs could trade someone other than Nylander or Kapanen after the season
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Darren Dreger was on TSN 1050 radio talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs. It will be hard for the Maple Leafs to offer pending UFA defenseman Jake Gardiner as much money as he could get on the open market.
The conversation ended with Dreger saying that an Eastern Conference executive throws out the theory that maybe the Maple Leafs don’t have to trade William Nylander or Kasperi Kapanen because of their pending salary cap issues.
“He said, ‘What about Kadri?’ Why does it have to be Nylander or Kapanen that gets traded because of the salary crunch at the end of the year.’
“There are teams around the National Hockey League that look at the Toronto Maple Leafs the same way we do and realize of course that something is going to have to give here. If everybody gets the piece of the pie that they’re comfortable with, somebody is leaving. It’s just financial common sense. But does it have to be Nylander. Does it have to be Kapanen.
“Maybe you get a sweeter deal, a better deal, for Kadri.”