I fail to see why anyone would pick an injury prone declining D-man from waivers...especially with a $5M+ contract.

GMs have done dumber things in the past. I think some team with cap space will rationalize picking up a playoff proven veteran defenseman.

i like you but not an injury prone 33yo with 2x5 left

Jake Muzzin hasn't won a playoff series since his sophomore year in the NHL. Not sure how "proven" that is.

That's more proven than a lot of NHL defencemen. I'm sure most GMs would love adding Muzzin basically for free.

In a couple of weeks we have gone from Muzzin getting a 1st for sure to now a waiver dump

Not at $5.6M. At $3M he'd be a quality option. At nearly $6M, he's not much of an asset. Retain 50% on him and I bet you could get a team to give up a 2nd or 3rd round pick for him. At full value, you might get a bite from a basement team looking to hit the salary floor or cover for injuries, but he could just as easily clear.

Clearing cap space is the goal. Any return in a Muzzin trade at this point is a bonus.

Muzzin would sail through waivers and then you still would have the NTC to deal with

But as I keep trying to din into you Toronto fans, we have less than $2 million to spend on that LD slot.

The NTC is not an insurmountable obstacle. If he doesn't get claimed then a trade could happen where a player with a similar cap hit comes the other way but plays in a different position, someone like Monahan in Calgary. That's the option of last resort, but at least it will open up the left hand slot for Sandin to play.

I should have clarified that it doesn’t have to be L.A. that claims him.

Definitely possible that some team wants him, he had a good playoffs and his contract would have only 6m left. More likely for a floor team. Still don't think the leafs are going to let him go this summer, though I think they should.