Leafs won’t just give Zaitsev away
Maple Leafs Hot Stove: Bob McKenzie on TSN 1050 on Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.
“They’re not going to give Zaitsev away, or if they are going to give him away in a soft deal, then obviously there has got to be a corresponding other move that would bring in an experienced defenseman to pick up his minutes, but that can be accomplished in a lot of different ways.”
If the Leafs move Zaitsev or Marleau, they are going to need to add more pieces.
Maple Leafs Forwards generating interest
McKenzie says they are likely getting calls on Nazem Kadri, Connor Brown, Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen – likely tons of calls on Kadri and Kapanen.
“It is going to be an interesting time and an interesting offseason for the Leafs because they do need to address the imbalance of forwards versus defense. They need to address the financial pressures that come with Zaitsev and Marleau’s contracts, but most of all, they need to address Mitch Marner’s contract negotiation. Until they get that squared away, it makes it really, really hard to do all that other stuff if you don’t know what the lay of the land is on the fallout from Marner.”
Kadri unlikely to end up on Carolina
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period: Teams are interested in Toronto Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri. Kadri has a 10-team no-trade list.
The Leafs could look to see if they could trade him for a top-four defenseman.
One team it appears that he won’t be going to is the Carolina Hurricanes as they are on his no-trade list from what has been told.
Connor Brown is another forward in the rumor mill, joining Patrick Patrick Marleau and defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.
The Maple Leafs could try to re-sign defenseman Ron Hainsey to a one-year deal in the $2 to $2.5 million range.
