Leafs forward may leave for the KHL in one week, could force the Leafs to make a trade.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently in a tough spot and it seems like rival teams believe that they will be forced to make a trade sooner rather than later.

In a recent segment of Insider Trading, TSN insider Pierre LeBrun revealed that 24-year-old forward Nikita Soshnikov has a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave for the Kontinental Hockey League if he is not called up to the National Hockey League roster before November 14th.

Making matters worse for Toronto is the fact that in three NHL games they will have to place Soshnikov on waivers if they wish to send him back to the American Hockey League, and that would likely result in him being claimed by a rival organization. 

LeBrun believes that the combination of all these factors has team's around the league viewing the Toronto Maple Leafs as a potential trade partner. 

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"A lot of team's around the NHL are looking at the Leafs' and saying something has to give at some point... will this lead to a trade at some point?"

The Leafs made a curious move today when they loaned Eric Fehr to the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks, and there is now rampant trade speculation suggesting that the Leafs are looking to trade a forward.