Team: 2023-24 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 3, 2023

Published: Jul. 3, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

- I've seen way too many people speculating a Nylander trade. That is not happening. This is the first time we've had a considerable amount of scoring depth around the core 4 and trading Nylander essentially negates all of that. There are other ways to make room to keep the team intact.

- Murray's cap is gone. Whether it's buyout, LTIR, or trade. Doesn't matter. You can pretty much disregard his cap hit at this point going into next season (unless we trade with retention).

- As it stands, the Leafs would have at most just over 3 million dollars to sign Ilya Samsonov. I've seen people suggest a Brodie trade. I was never on board with that idea, but especially after the Klingberg signing, I'm not sure how it would be possible to go into next season without TJ Brodie on our blue line. There is no player that will be able to replace the level of defence he brings to the team.

- We should trade Samsonov and gamble on cheaper goalies. People might see this as a risk, but the truth is that giving Sammy more than 4 million with term after having his best (and only good) season of his career is even more risky. The Vegas Golden Knights proved that you can be successful in this way. Not to mention we will likely be able to recoup a few decent assets that could be used at the TDL.

- Going with Vladar/Woll to split ~30 games each and then spliting 5-10 games between two goalies on a two-way deal could be seen as an ideal way of getting through the regular season while icing the best team possible. Seeing that the goaltending is still pretty weak in the division, I don't mind having those two heading into the playoffs as well.

- I think trading for one of Zadorov/Tanev/Hanifin would complete this blue line. I'm not sure how keen CGY would be on retaining, but this is all hypothetical. This trade could happen at the TDL depending on where CGY stands with those players.

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