Luke Fox of Sportsnet: (mailbag) As it stands, the Toronto Maple Leafs will rely heavily on Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, and Justin Holl next season. Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci won’t be back.
Travis Dermott, an RFA with no arbitration rights, didn’t have the breakout season some may have hoped and will likely get a bridge deal.
Rasmus Sandin will make the team, but they should be looking to acquire a veteran defenseman to play ahead of Timothy Liljegren.
Alex Pietrangelo would be a top free agent target but he’ll likely remain in St. Louis. The next tier of defensemen includes Justin Schultz, Sami Vatanen, Chris Tanev and Radko Gudas.
Trade targets with term could include Josh Manson, Rasmus Ristolainen and Matt Dumba.
Guessing that RFA Ilya Mikheyev could get a one- or two-year deal around $1.25 million.
Andreas Johnsson is still recovering from his knee surgery. Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas maybe the most comfortable in trading Johnsson, but doesn’t think he’ll be traded. His value is low at the moment given his injuries and down season. thinks teams would be looking at Kasperi Kapanen or Alex Kerfoot.
Luke Fox of Sportsnet: (mailbag) Question of the Toronto Maple Leafs trading Frederik Andersen for help on defense and having Jack Campbell as the starter – Anderson is a true No. 1 goalie and you keep him for at least one more season. He’s a UFA after next season. The Leafs can play Campbell on more than just back-to-back games. The 29-year old Campbell has never started more than 31 games in an NHL season.
Alexander Kerfoot as the Leafs third-line centerman maybe hasn’t worked out as much as they had like so far. Jason Spezza and Pierre Engvall have also been tried. Their blue line is more in need of fixing than the third-line though.
Would trade at least one of Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson and/or Kerfoot and a prospect/pick for a right-handed defenseman. The defenseman doesn’t need to be totally offensive, but one that can kill penalties, clear out the net and eat minutes.
