The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a few summer transactions since the opening free agent flourish to start the month of July, dispatching the useless Ryan Reaves to San Jose for defenseman Henry Thrun, and acquiring big forward Dakota Joshua from the Vancouver Canucks. Insiders believe there are still moves to come, but other things have to unfold before GM Brad Treliving can spring into action.
Free agent winger Jack Roslovic remains unsigned, and the Leafs are among a number of clubs that could be interested depending on salary and term demands, but it also may depend on whether Treliving can make corresponding moves to clear some salary out. Center David Kampf ($2.4 million the next two seasons), winger Calle Jarnkrok ($2.1 million next season), and RFA winger Nick Robertson all may be factors in the club’s next move.
The Waiting Game
Although the top-six center trade market may not become brisk until well into the season, the depth center market for those on a similar level to Kampf still has a few options. Roslovic, who has primarily been a center for most of his career with Winnipeg, Columbus, and Carolina, is an option higher up in lineups, but others like free agents Luke Kunin or Luke Glendening may be options on one-year deals for teams rather than taking on Kampf for two years.
Jarnkrok, 33, who scored one goal in 19 regular-season games, missed most of last season recovering from groin and sports hernia surgery. Although he was healthy during the playoffs, the Fourth Period is reporting that interest in the veteran winger has not been brisk, but once again that could be a product of younger, comparable free agents like Joel Kiviranta still being out there.
Robertson and the Leafs are headed to salary arbitration early next month if they do not reach a settlement beforehand. Depending on the deal, the 23-year-old could eat up a sizable chunk of Toronto’s remaining cap room (just under $3 million). Treliving may see an opportunity, once cost certainty is established to recoup some draft capital for a player with three controllable years before unrestricted free agency.
