Last year, many fans thought the Leafs would have to make trades to get under the cap, and the two main potential cap casualties were Justin Holl and Alex Kerfoot. Both were solid players in a vacuum, but each made a decent chunk of change. As a result, many, MANY ACGMs included one or both getting traded away to another team for draft picks (usually the Kraken), without considering the acquiring team's cap situation or desire to trade for one/both of them. This year, a similar thing is happening with TJ Brodie and Calle Järnkrok. Again, both are good players, but find themselves as common targets for clearing cap due to their not insignificant cap hits. And once again, Seattle is a popular destination for Toronto's outgoings for some inexplicable reason.
I'm not a Leafs fan, but I made this ACGM to illustrate the difficulty of trading Brodie and/or Järnkrok away for positive value of any significance in a flat cap league. Take Brodie, for example. There's only a handful of NHL teams left with enough cap space to fit him in, and most of them still have RFAs left to sign that will take up most of that room. The only teams who realistically have over $5M left in cap space are San Jose, Buffalo, Detroit, Nashville, Arizona, Chicago, and Anaheim. The Sabres, Red Wings, and Predators are the teams closest to contention, but their blue lines are full. The Sharks, Coyotes, Blackhawks, and Ducks are all rebuilding, so they might not have much interest in trading draft capital for veterans. Järnkrok may be more moveable, but all the factors I listed lessens the likelihood Toronto will be able to get good value back for either of their popularly rumored cap casualties. Ultimately, I think the Leafs will end up doing what they did last year: hang onto Brodie and Järnkrok and roll with a 20 man roster to start the season.
Seattle has a full 23 man roster and is less than $2M under the cap. The Kraken do not have the cap space, roster space, or need to trade for Brodie, Järnkrok, or anyone else who isn't any better than what they already have in-house. They are not a trade partner for Toronto's cap clearing moves.
For the record, I don't think Toronto will trade Brodie. But in this scenario, Vaakanainen would be a NHL caliber 7th defenseman, of which the Leafs are in short supply. Plus, he's still young, so there might be some untapped upside that could be unlocked with a change in scenery.
Of the rebuilding teams, to me Anaheim would be the best fit for Brodie since they're lacking in NHL level defensemen under contract. Brodie would give the Ducks a versatile blueliner who could play either side and be a mentor for their young defensemen/a potential trade chip at the deadline.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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