The Toronto Maple Leafs in the market for center but don’t have cap space or a first
The Fourth Period: The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking for a center, maybe a second-line center, but they don’t have a lot of salary cap space to work with. Nothing appears to be imminent but they are doing their due diligence.
The Leafs have been linked to New York Islanders’ Brock Nelson, but he’s likely not going anywhere as long as they’re in the playoff race.
The Leafs don’t have their first-round pick this year as they sent it to Chicago.
NHL Rumors: Expect Maple Leafs to Make Sure Auston Matthews is Fully Healthy
Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – It’s Time to Move On in Vancouver episode, said that he doesn’t think the Vancouver Canucks want to trade either Elias Pettersson or J.T. Miller.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“And I believe this. I believe this first and foremost, that the con, the Canucks publicly and the Canucks privately. Because, you know, when Miller took his break, I think there were teams that called the Canucks and said, ‘You know, when he comes back, is is he going to stay at Canuck?” and I think the the Canucks basically said, like, we’re not, we don’t want to trade this guy.
And I think that with Pettersson, their, their choice, we all know now, last year that they could have traded him, and they didn’t. And they gave him a lot of money. And so that says to me, by action, that the Vancouver Canucks believe they are a better team with both of those players. They are both on Four Nations rosters. They are both excellent players.
It is very hard to win a trade with either one of them, and I think the Canucks, their preference is to keep them both and try to win with them both. And last year, they showed that when everybody was pulling in the same direction, they were a formidable team. It took the Oilers, who went to game seven of the Stanley Cup Final, every ounce of their power to beat Vancouver in the second round.
NHL Rumors: The Vancouver Canucks are More Urgent Than the Edmonton Oilers
And so I think if I was in Vancouver, I would say, Nobody’s going anywhere.
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