The Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves in an advantageous position (if you forget that they allowed a 100-point scorer to walk away for nothing because they did not move him before his no-move protection dropped two years ago), if you look at the list of available cap space on Puckpedia, the Leafs have the ninth-most cap space going into the summer.
That amount obviously will decrease with the likely re-signing of John Tavares to a cap-friendly deal, and the extension of winger Matthew Knies, but could be counterbalanced if GM Brad Treliving uses the buyout option or trades David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok and/or Ryan Reaves.
This opens up a whole slew of options for Treliving. He could take advantage of teams tight against the cap looking to shed salary, as Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos suggested with a possible acquisition of former Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle from Colorado, or possibly Dallas winger Jason Robertson (who both have a year left on their current deals), or as Steve Dangle and Adam Wylde suggested on a recent podcast, getting draft or player assets from another club to buyout a player.
Another player that could be on the move that could interest the Leafs is someone who represents the worst move made by former GM Kyle Dubas and that is Stars winger Mason Marchment. The former Leaf has a year left at a $4.5 million AAV and Dallas GM Jim Nill (according to David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period) is looking to clear cap space to re-sign center Mikael Granlund. Marchment could be more available and less expensive than Robertson in a deal, and offers the Leafs another big body with rambunctiousness that fits Craig Berube’s style.
The 29-year-old was signed to an AHL deal and then an NHL ELC by Dubas, and was part of their 2018 Calder Cup Championship club, but puzzlingly was traded to Florida in February, 2020 for forward Denis Malgin. Unfortunately, Malgin’s prodigious scoring in the Swiss league did not translate to the NHL, as he scored just two goals in 31 games before being traded to Colorado in 2022 for Dryden Hunt.
Marchment broke out in his contract year with the Panthers, scoring 18 goals in 54 games and signed a four-year, $18 million deal in Dallas. He has scored 22 goals each of the last two seasons and uses his 6’5”, 212 lb. frame effectively, which is something that Toronto could use if they hope to battle their way through the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.
