Via Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic
“There are so many big names being floated out there right now,’’ the GM said.
Well, we certainly love hearing that.
Then there’s the whole goalie carousel mostly influenced by four pending UFA goalies in Marc-Andre Fleury, Darcy Kuemper, Ville Husso and Jack Campbell.
The Wild, by the way, remained interested in bringing back Fleury as of Wednesday, so that remains on the table. And as discussed before, the Maple Leafs could be another option for Fleury.
Finally, Husso’s agent, Todd Diamond, was expected to meet with Blues GM Doug Armstrong sometime this week. Hard to think that the Blues could afford to bring back Husso with Jordan Binnington signed long-term; that would be a lot of dough in net. The Leafs and Oilers could be among the options for Husso depending on how some of the other dominoes fall.
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: The Anaheim Ducks may be looking to get John Gibson‘s five-year, $6.5 million cap hit off the books. He has a no-movement clause.
NHL Watcher: Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts on Marc-Andre Fleury: “There were people who said he did not want to go to Toronto, I don’t think that’s true, I just think the Leafs and Blackhawks could not agree on the trade and that’s because Chicago wanted Knies and Toronto wasn’t willing to do that.”
Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets: The Maple Leafs have about $6.4 million in projected salary cap space with 18 players under contract. RFAs include Ondrej Kase, Pierre Engvall and Rasmus Sandin. They need at least one goaltender.
Petr Mrazek and Justin Holl could be traded to create some cap space.
Teams can trade for the rights to pending UFA Ilya Mikheyev if they want to get a jump on free agency. He’s asking for over $4 million a season.
It doesn’t appear likely that Jack Campbell will be back with the Leafs.
At the right price, Ilya Lyubushkin and Colin Blackwell could be brought back.
Engvall and Kase are owed $1.25 million qualifying offers and are arbitration-eligible. The sides continue to talk.
Sandin is now fourth on the left side of the depth chart behind Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin and Mark Giordano.
The Leafs need to figure out their goaltending situation, and will they need one or goaltenders. They also need to add some depth.
Potential UFA goaltender targets include Ville Husso, Darcy Kuemper and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Potential UFA forward depth options include Zach Aston-Reese, Johan Larsson and Nicolas Deslauriers.
Internal options include Nick Robertson, Joey Anderson, Pontus Holmberg, Bobby McMann, Curtis Douglas, Nick Abruzzese and Alex Steeves.