It has been a rough couple of weeks for the Maple Leafs who have seen their lead in the North Division vanish as they sit tied with Edmonton in points with 42 (although Toronto has two games in hand). GM Kyle Dubas has made it known that he’s looking to add a rental player to the fold and as TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports in the latest Insider Trading segment (video link), their top target is Predators forward Mikael Granlund.
The 29-year-old eventually returned to Nashville in late December after not being able to secure a long-term contract elsewhere. Instead, Granlund opted for a one-year, $3.75MM pact with the hopes that a full season under John Hynes would put him in a better position to cash in on the open market this summer.
That hasn’t happened. After a delayed start to his season due to quarantine protocols, Granlund simply hasn’t found his footing. Although he played well under Hynes following the coaching change last season, any momentum was certainly long gone as he has been limited to just six goals and five assists in 28 games this season. While his deal looked like a possible bargain back in the winger, it’s now an above-market contract.
Despite that, it’s understandable why Toronto would have some interest in Granlund. They have a spot in their top six that they’d like to try and improve upon and while his numbers this season are down, he averaged 63 points per year between 2016-17 and 2018-19. In the right environment, he’s a strong bounce-back candidate and with the quality of their top forwards, he could certainly step in and make an impact.
There are some questions that would have to be answered first before a deal can happen. Let’s get the obvious out of the way with the salary cap. Per CapFriendly, Toronto has just over $400K of cap space. Even as that builds up as time elapses, it’s only worth about $750K in a full-season salary, nowhere near enough. Even if Nashville was to retain half, they’d still need to offset money. Including Ilya Mikheyev ($1.645MM) would work in that scenario but if the Preds aren’t willing to retain, then someone like Alexander Kerfoot ($3.5MM) would likely need to be involved. With term left on both of those contracts (one year for Mikheyev and two years for Kerfoot), there’s no guarantee that the Predators would want to add money into next season.
As Seravalli adds, there is also the question of the quarantine status. Right now, players that are moved from the United States to Canada are required to serve a 14-day stint in a hotel, causing them to miss several games in the process. Canadian teams – led by Toronto – have been trying to push to have that reduced but haven’t made any progress on that front.
There’s also the matter of Nashville’s potential playoff push. Heading into play tonight, they’re only four points out of the final postseason spot in the Central Division. While it has been assumed for a while that they’d sell, their proximity to fourth place could push GM David Poile to delay deciding on their plans for Granlund.
Clearly, while the Maple Leafs have some interest in Granlund, there is a lot to work out over the coming weeks for a deal to happen. But if some of those can’t be resolved or Nashville’s tentativeness in selling is extended, Toronto may have to set their sights elsewhere before the April 12th trade deadline.
Such a typical Dubas target. He thinks having 4 scoring lines is going to win them the cup. They’re a regular season team, not a playoff team. Hell, even the Oilers are better than them now.
you don’t watch anything but highlights I’m guessing…
sorry, that was a horrible reply by me. I don’t want to be that guy.
I’d view the jets as a better team than the oilers, but both behind the leafs in total talent. But you did say the oilers are a better team ‘now’, which is true of the last three weeks. Although many worse teams play better than more talented teams for stretches in a season. Matthew’s isn’t shooting due to his wrist and Freddy has been horrible, the team seems to like Campbell more.
They are more built for the regular season, true. That’s my two cents. Have a good day!
Basically right, though he did know to get Wayne Simmonds. He just didn’t know which year to get him.
Granlund is the wrong guy for them. Rakell would be good. Foligno would be great (even though Rakell is a better player).
They need someone who will get dirty.
This is very true. Foligno is the type of guy they need. Another strong defenceman would also help
I honestly don’t see the Predators having any interest in taking a contract like Kerfoot back & I have my doubts that they would retain any salary on Granlund’s contract. Despite his inconsistent play, there are going to be other teams in on Granlund & it shouldn’t be too hard to find a deal where they don’t have to retain salary or take a contract back. If the Leafs want Granlund, they are going to have to make a deal with another team to get some more cap space
Why wouldn’t they hold salary? It’s just for this year and would increase what the return would be. Ekholm and Ellis on the other hand obviously they wouldn’t consider retaining anything
How much of an increase in return would it actually bring? Granlund isn’t likely to bring in a high end prospect or high draft pick anyway. Makes no sense to eat salary just because the other organization wants it to. The Preds are likely to get a similar offer from a team that doesn’t want them to eat any salary. The Preds are under no obligation to help the Leafs out. It isn’t their fault the Leafs have salary cap issues.
A 3rd to a 2nd, a better level prospect. Those are things rebuilding teams need and guess what Nashville officially is now. They don’t have a goalie, no good forwarders other then Forsberg and a very expensive but really good (for now) D core. If the leafs pony up what Pole thinks is the best package to help the team then ya a couple million retained is a small price to pay. Also how salary cap works half way through the season can be funny and like you said Granlund isn’t getting you you a insane haul but they were also prepared at the start of the season to pay his 3.7 million dollar contract in full. Their not winning anything and with 33 games played of 56 only 23 games left which means he’s only owed 1.5 million. Most contending teams will need/want salary retained it’s not just the leafs that would want that
they need size not scoring give me a break..more grit.
At least he’s under 30…
Holtby for Andersen,Lilligren and a 3rd
Quick for Andersen,Lilligren and a 2nd
Grandlund,Rinne/Ekholm for Andersen,Lilligren Kerfoot,and a 2nd.
Clubs retaining salary
The last two should have been done over a week ago as the Leafs had a light schedule to avoid the quarantine.
See the theme here? Lilligren is a bust. (Spelling out loud) B U S T. And Andersen isn’t getting it done. Waddell loves Andersen. They could easily jettison any CAR goalie to LA to make room. Exposing Quick for the expansion draft is ideal for Toronto.
There is no way Nashville makes that trade. First they have already said that they aren’t trading Rinne. More importantly that trade does absolutely nothing for the Preds because the Leafs aren’t giving up anything good at all in it. They can get a better offer for Ekholm by himself than that awful trade. He’ll bring back a 1st round pick, a top prospect & another asset. They also would have zero interest in Kerfoot. There lineup has plenty of similar players to Kerfoot and they would want a prospect that has a lot more upside than Lilligren. That trade only benefits the Leafs
Why would the Kings make that deal? They’ll expose Quick in the expansion draft themselves & protect Peterson.
The trade doesn’t work for Vancouver either because they need to expose Holtby in the expansion draft in order to protect Demko.
So I guess you follow Lilligren on a game basis
Yes,I’ve had my fill of Lilligren. There’s no way I’d touch him as a client.
If they stand pat,the Leafs are dead in the water.
They need a blockbuster.
Sending a goalie to expose is nothing. There will be plenty this summer.
Say this out loud-Andersen will be the next Leaf goalie in their crease when they win the cup.
You just lied to your walls.
Shame on you. lol.
I hate to be bearer of bad news but the leafs have more prospects then just Lilly. Your average leaf fan just doesn’t know the value or of their existence. For example their Finnish prospects, Hirvonen was a late 2nd who made the world juniors and has looked to be developingreally good. Niemela who was picked really early in the 3rd last year won best defence man in the world juniors. Those are 2 of the leafs prospects that could easily be flipped for rentals especially when packaged with picks. Look at what it cost for muzzin or for Campbell and Clifford
@Dave – “They need a blockbuster” – you said it! They’ve painted themselves into a corner of cap hell that is all monkey-puke green. Some days it seems like Freddy is trying to trade himself out of the caldron that is the GTA. It’s a pity that Nicky Foligno can’t don the pads and man the blue paint for them. As a proud member of the Fightin’ Folignos, he could potentially do a decent impression of Billy Smith 2.0! That said, they could use his grit anywhere in the lineup.
Thanks MacJab.
The Leafs will not win the way they are assembled.
I do like Foligno,but love his goalie even more. (JK,the one that beat the Leafs last playoff.)
The cap is going to rise next season,but if they are going to bag 3rd liners for $4M,just stay home.
I’ve got a staff member joining TSE w/Raymond Baker,doing NHL insider stuff. He’s my capologist. Smartest numbers guy I know.
Stay safe Mac
Thanks, @Dave! Hope you and your crew are staying safe, too!
The cap is not rising for at least 2 seasons.
Kerfoot is junk and badly overpaid.
So because Frank Seravalli said he scoured the league and he thinks Granlund is a good target, this means the Leafs are targeting Granlund? No. It means that’s what Frank thinks, that’s it. He does not represent the Leafs in any way.