Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving said in his media availability on Thursday that the focus of the upcoming summer will be changing the DNA of what has caused the club to come up short since 2018, there are indicators that the extent of the upheaval of the core group will be limited to one player; Mitch Marner.
Treliving was complementary of the club’s leading scorer, did not want to comment on the status of contract negotiations and said that Marner had a say in the process, but the fact that he and agent Darren Ferris did not want to negotiate during the season, is an indicator that Marner does not want to re-up in Toronto. The cordial nature of the Leafs GM’s comments may simply be to keep the possibility of trading the winger’s rights for draft picks, or a sign and trade for a return open.
Some interesting notes emanating after Thursday’s presser from a couple of NHL Insiders:
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said that he believes the Leafs will contemplate buyouts at the bottom of the forward lineup. The three likely candidates are David Kampf (2 years left at $2.4 million), Calle Jarnkrok (1 year at $2.1 million) and Ryan Reaves (1 year at $1.35 million). The cap savings on Kampf and Jarnkrok are mitigated by signing bonuses.
A buyout for Kampf counting $1.68 million for two years (a savings of $716,666) and then $358,000 for the two years after that. A buyout of Jarnkrok would still count $1.58 million on the cap (saving $517,666 next season), while a buyout of Reaves, who had no signing bonus, would count only $450,000 against the cap next season (saving $900,000).
Friedman said that there have been a lot of rumors connecting Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights, which extended back to last summer, but those talks ended quickly because of the Leafs interest in defenseman Shea Theodore.
Any deal involving would likely involve a sign-and-trade, since Vegas has less than $10 million in cap space (unless Mark Stone spends the final two years of his contract on LTIR). Two possible options in a sign-and-trade could be forward Ivan Barbashev and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, both members of the 2019 Cup-winning St. Louis Blues squad under Craig Berube.
Pierre LeBrun said on TSN 1050’s Overdrive that Treliving’s comments regarding contract offers not being made to Marner and John Tavares were clarified to indicate that Treliving did not want to discuss contract talks in the media, and that the feeling is that Tavares will sign back in Toronto if both sides are agreeable on a more reasonable salary. He also said that Morgan Rielly is not interested in waiving his no-movement clause.
Re-signing Tavares is not a mistake, especially if it is for 50% or less than the $11 million he’s made the last seven years with the Leafs. The center market in free agency after Sam Bennett, Brock Nelson, and Charlie Coyle is quite thin, and depending on the length of the deal, Tavares could move lower down in the lineup or to the wing in the next few years.
The Rielly news is to be expected, since he has three years of full no-move protection and is reportedly not open to going anywhere. You simply cannot force a player to waive his NMC if he doesn’t want to go anywhere. (Re: Mats Sundin and Marner). The 31-year-old was terrible in Game 7 against Florida, but who wasn’t. He played much better with Brandon Carlo late in the season and at times in the playoffs, so as much as it is going to be rumored, a Rielly trade is likely a non-starter.
It is a start
Rielly is the problem here. Too much cap for a diminished return. Maybe some bottom pairing minutes will change his thinking.
On Marner, whatever you can get, for a sign and trade or trading his rights is what needs to happen. There’s enough decent wingers in free agency, without having to deal with his ridiculous demands.
He’s not a bottom pairing defenseman. He’s a middle pairing guy, and played well with Carlo. The problem with the Leafs is that they have not had a top flight #1 defenseman since Salming.
Rielly is the problem here. Too much cap for a diminished return. Maybe some bottom pairing minutes will change his thinking.
On Marner, whatever you can get, for a sign and trade or trading his rights is what needs to happen. There’s enough decent wingers in free agency, without having to deal with his ridiculous demands.
It’s about the Cap. He takes too much and his return is not what it needs to be. At 31, he’s not getting any faster.
7.5M for a second pairing is not too much, especially when you are paying McCabe and Tanev in the 4’s and Carlo and OEL in the 3’s. and Benoit at 1.3