Looking at the Leafs cap situation for the rest of this season it is easy to determine how the trade deadline shakes out for the Leafs. If Muzzin doesn’t return the Leafs have the necessary space to add players, especially with salary retention. Trading Alex Kerfoot’s salary away (or Engvall’s or Holl’s for that matter, but Kerfoot’s is the priority for a couple of reasons) allows the Leafs to do something in addition to that Muzzin cap space or it becomes the alternative to it if Muzzin will be returning. The Leafs might not have a ton to work with, but they can be deadline players.
The biggest catch seems to be with the prices potentially being paid and the high value associated with a 2023 1st round pick, there is a desire to avoid rental players. Kyle Dubas has made it known that he prefers players with term, but the past couple of years have seen the Leafs primarily focus on expiring contracts and this year may be more of the same, especially given the Leafs cap situation going forward.
A quick look at the Leafs cap situation for 2023-24 shows that Toronto has $69.82M committed to Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares, Robertson, Jarnkrok, R …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation