Keys to the offseason for the Toronto Maple Leafs
Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski of ESPN: Looking at some of the questions and decisions the Toronto Maple Leafs are facing this offseason.
Welcome to the salary-cap nightmare – The Maple Leafs have a projected $4.5 million in salary cap space with 16 players under contract. Ilya Mikheyev and Travis Dermott are pending RFAs.
Rebuilding the blue line – Pending UFA Tyson Barrie didn’t work out as the Leafs had hoped. Cody Ceci is likely gone. Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, Justin Holl and Dermott should all be back. Rasmus Sandin and Mikko Lehtonen will get a shot. Do they explore the trade market, dangling Andreas Johnsson?
Michael Traikos of the Toronto Sun: Is it time for the Toronto Maple Leafs to move on from forward William Nylander? believes it’s time to break up their core and move on from Nylander.
They wouldn’t be trading him because he’s not good enough or doesn’t care, but because he’s not a defenseman and that is an area they need to improve.
Nylander may be expandable as GM Kyle Dubas isn’t trading Auston Matthews, John Tavares or Mitch Marner.
To get a defenseman like Seth Jones, you have to give up something of value. Maybe the Leafs could land a Jones, or Josh Manson or Brett Pesce.
Keys to the offseason for the Florida Panthers
Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski of ESPN: Looking at some of the offseason questions and decisions the Florida Panthers are facing.
Figure out the depth – The Panthers have about $21 million in salary cap space with 13 players under contract. Their group of pending UFAs include Mike Hoffman, Evgenii Dadonov, Erik Haula, Brian Boyle and Mark Pysyk. They’ll have six RFAs. They need to add depth in all areas. It’s been reported that they may need to cut payroll for next season.
Who takes over at GM? There had been some speculation that assistant GM Eric Joyce could take over for the departed Dale Tallon.
Pierre LeBrun: The Montreal Canadiens have given the Panthers permission to speak with assistant GM Scott Mellanby.