NHL insider Chris Johnston claims that the Toronto Maple Leafs are willing to part with three players in order to free up cap space for future additions to the squad.
As of right now, the Maple Leafs are over the salary cap by $1.5 million, but that does not include Jani Hakanpaa, whose contract has not been finalised because of injury concerns.
To clear cap space, Johnston claims Toronto is willing to trade Timothy Liljegren, David Kampf, and Calle Jarnkrok.
They would consider trading for Timothy Liljegren, Kampf, or Jarnkrok. To be very clear, this is not to mean that they are attempting to get rid of them, but I believe that they are quite tightly bound by the Leafs’ salary cap. They’ve certainly made the moves in the net because the blue line looks different at this point in the off-season. However, Johnston stated on The Chris Johnston Show on July 4 that “I think they will have to get creative to address any changes they want to make going forward.”
There may be players like that available, but there’s no reason to think anything is imminent or will occur. They were receptive to it going into this offseason. Johnston continued, “Those players serve a purpose for the reason they have the contracts they do; it would just be nice if they could upgrade by moving those players to make cap space.”
There are two more seasons left on Jarnkrok’s contract, which pays him $2.1 million annually. Kampf’s contract, which pays him $2.4 million a year, has two more years left on it.
Despite having recently inked a new two-year contract worth $3 million per season, Liljegren—the only defenseman mentioned—has been linked to trade rumours.
Liljegren Desired to Stay with the Maple Leafs
Trade rumours have been circulating about Liljegren prior to his signature on his contract extension. Nevertheless, he expressed his excitement to ink a multi-year contract with the Maple Leafs after signing, saying he had always wanted to play for them.
I feel wonderful. I’m glad we were able to make it happen, because Toronto has always been my dream location. Speaking with Toronto was not too difficult, Liljegren told the press. “I think I made some significant progress last year, but my injuries caused me to kind of go off course. I was a little unlucky to lose some games because of two huge ones. However, I continued to improve offensively.
Liljegren played 55 games for the Maple Leafs, tallying 3 goals and 20 assists for 23 points.
