Toronto Maple Leafs All In According To Rumors
SportsnetStaff reports: A mid-season slump raises speculation that the Toronto Maple Leafs may just go all-in this trade deadline. The quarantine issue remains the elephant in the room. Kyle Dubas runs the risk of acquiring a player from or in the US then has to hope for health.
Quarantine kills a potential Eric Staal trade right away. After that, it boils down to the dollar-for-dollar fits. Can Jack Campbell come back and stay healthy? He has been amazing in three starts but the on-again-off-again injuries are problematic.
Then there are the Nashville Predators. Who do they move? The biggest trade piece looks to be Mattias Ekholm. Others like Filip Forsberg and even Viktor Arvidsson may be moved in the summer perhaps but likely not now. Toronto has been lukewarm at best when it comes to Ekholm.
After that, there is Kyle Palmieri and the inevitable rumors to the Toronto Maple Leafs have come up. Decision time with New Jersey looms soon and teams will line up.
Do Kevin Cheveldayoff and Winnipeg Jets Take Another Swing?
Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet: It comes down to price and fit for the Winnipeg Jets general manager.
“The trade aspect of things is certainly something you have to consider if it comes to that point. If it’s a rental, then obviously it doesn’t come in as much. If it’s a player on a multiyear deal, then potentially it does,” said Cheveldayoff. “Certainly it might determine how much of an asset you want to give to acquire a player if it puts you in those situations. But as far as the UFAs, we’re hopeful that we can continue to do business as usual, whether it’s in a pandemic or not. I think the hard part is the flat cap moving forward. That makes it very uncertain how to allocate the different resources. So as far as that goes, we’ll try to make it as ‘business as usual’ as possible.”
Aside from the expansion draft and quarantine issues, the flat cap alarms more general managers than anything. Strike too early and the price may be too high. Strike too late and one may not get the player a team wants. Cheveldeyoff expects to explore all options as he’s learning what his team needs. It gets late early when it comes to this trade deadline.