Muzzin Trade

Team: 2022-23 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 1, 2022

Published: Jun. 1, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

...does not happen because he's 33, coming off a year with some injury issues, and, oh yeah, he has a full NTC and isn't waiving it to go play for a basement-dweller when he's currently on a Cup contender 90 minutes from his hometown.

But while we're here, let's have a little fun with seeing what we can do with Toronto next season.

TRADES
-Maybe LA has a guy they really like in the 3rd round? Why not move back a few spots and grab an extra lottery ticket in next year's draft.

-This feels like the right value for Holl, if not the right place. I feel like he doesn't get moved until the middle of the summer - when there's not much left on the UFA market and a contender that missed out wants to upgrade their bottom pair. Picked Calgary because he could potentially fill the hole vacated by Erik Gudbranson while staying basically cap-neutral for the Flames ($1.95 for EG vs. $2M for Holl).

-Chicago needs someone to keep the seat warm in goalie while their prospects develop. They take on Mrazek's deal, hoping for a bounce back, and get a close-to-NHL-ready player in Alex Steeves who has strong middle-6 potential.

-Rangers will need some inexpensive bodies to fill out their bottom 6, so they throw a late round pick for Ondrej Kase in the hopes they can keep him healthy. If no one bites on his rights, I would just let him walk.

SIGNINGS
-I didn't go through all the RFAs, just hit the important ones. Look, we all know offer sheets just don't happen. Lily and Sandin sign 2 year bridges at $1.5M with the promise that if they keep playing well they'll get paid when the monster deals start falling off. Engvall gets $2M on his bridge in the hopes that he keeps building off a 35-point season. Jack Campbell gets the Robin Lehner deal (4x$5M) because he was good, folks, and you're not getting much better than him in UFA or the trade market.

I wanted to try and find guys that might have untapped potential to fill out the margins of the roster. Nick Merkley has a 1st round pedigree and put up 46 points in 59 AHL games this year - he's worth giving a shot to see if he can turn into Bunting 2.0. Adam Brooks put up solid numbers with the Marlies a few years ago - let him be your 14th forward while your prospects develop in the AHL. Derrick Pouliot has experience and size and will sign cheap - you don't want to rely on him for a ton but he can fill in in a pinch. Dominik Simon put up strong possession numbers this year playing on a line with Brian Boyle and Zach Aston-Reese, of all people. Thomas Greiss is probably the best of the goalies you can sign in that $1Mish range - he's got a track record of putting up good numbers with a good team in front of him and you hope he can do that now that he's out of Detroit.

LINES
Top 6 forwards are what they are, no changes. 3rd line of Engvall-Kampf-Simon is your shutdown line - three strong defensive forwards that you maybe rely on a little more than you had in the past. Your 4th line is 3 guys named Nick (not on purpose I swear) that you heavily shelter and hopefully develop at least one of them into a top-6 guy. D pairs are what they are - I like pairing a veteran with each of the young guys.

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