They can probably only move them if they take back other bad contracts. A team can only retain salary on three contracts.

Can't see why any team would want Laich, Greening and Michalek. And would is the sense of moving Polak and Hunwick? They are in the top 6 Leafs Dmen with a team in the playoff race. To trade them for virtually meaningless picks, doesn't help Leafs now or likely in the future.

forgot about that rule and I think because there is no cap in the playoffs, I don't think it'd be mandatory. They are signed for this year only and if we retain 50%, plus the fact that they would be on the new team for like 20 games really reduces how much the team would be paying for them.



I do believe that with injuries, especially in the playoffs, depth is key. Doesn't hurt having veterans on expiring contracts that are NHL proven. They are not playing because of the depth the leafs have at forward not because of a lack of skill. It would essentially cost all the teams to move down a few spots in late rounds which is all about luck at that point. You could get a more talented player in the 7th round than the 5th but I trust leafs scouting and hence, a 5th may be better for us. Polak and Hunwick are perhaps the worst pairing in the league. Once Carrick is back, you roll with Rielly-Zaitsev, Gardiner-Carrick, Marincin-Marchenko. I would flip them for assets because we are not contending for the cup. A third and two 4ths might seem useless but management has proven they can capitalize on later round picks. Those pick could be used to draft high risk defensemen. Even if one of the three picks pay off, we get a younger defensemen than the two, one who will probably have a future with the leafs. Marchenko is familiar with Babcock and from his first game, he showed he can be a reliable 5-6 guy. Marincin is what it is, he is learning but on good days he will be great bad days he will terrible, but as a 5-6 defenseman I have no complaints compared to hunwick and polak. Corrado can be called up in case of injuries but again playoffs is icing on the cake, not the goal of the team right now. With it being such a tight race, a couple bad games and a few injuries and the leafs are on the outside looking in thinking they should have traded for assets at the deadline. NYI, FLA, BOS and TOR all fighting for spots and it can go either way. At next year's deadline we can look to acquire but for now, selling is better long term.