Leafs reporter believes Toronto will have to trade one of their newcomers!

The Toronto Maple Leafs are focused on getting Mitch Marner inked before the start of the 2019-20 season, but some insiders believe some work is left to be made on the team’s blue liner. 

Most fans will quickly admit that the lack of depth on the back caused Toronto’s demise in the first round of the postseason and were therefore happy to see the Leafs make the acquisition of Tyson Barrie, Cody Ceci, Ben Harpur, and Jordan Schmaltz this summer. 

However, Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star now believes the Leafs would “almost certainly” have to dump a defenseman if they somehow bring back Jake Gardiner on a one-year contract.

As you know there has been a lot of chatter about Gardiner coming back to re-sign with the Leafs lately and what this insider is saying could be what is being said around the team’s camp when it comes to making it work financially. 

“One of those newcomers might have to go if the Leafs need to get creative with their cap space,” said Zwolinski.

The Leafs would be insane to part with Barrie, who is set to be their new top-pairing right-side rearguard and Ceci is slated to fill the same role on the second pairing. Toronto won’t be parting with them. 

Cap Friendly also reports that Harpur ($725K) and Schmaltz ($700K) earn considerably less than what it could cost to sign Gardiner, but the Leafs sure know what they are getting with Gardiner and how he has great chemistry with the rest of the roster. 

For now, the focus remain on signing Marner to his new deal, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see GM Kyle Dubas get creative with his money to bring Gardiner back. 

We better stay on the lookout!