Rumor: More Leafs trades coming

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas shocked the hockey world earlier this week when he acquired… David Clarkson?! Yep… THE David Clarkson.

In case you missed it, the Leafs acquired Clarkson and his $5.25 million contract along with a fourth round pick from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for backup goalie Garret Sparks.

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The immediate reaction from Leafs fans was, of course… why?

The short answer is cap space. Clarkson will never play another game in the NHL due to injuries and, as such, he’s eligible to be placed on long term injury reserve (LTIR) where his salary won’t count against the Leafs’ cap. The Leafs will benefit from Clarkson’s contract because of the way the NHL calculates LTIR, but the exact amount won’t be known until the end of 2019-20. It’s expected to be less than $2 million total, but… could Dubas have another trick up his sleeve?

In his latest column for The Athletic, Leafs insider James Mirtle reports that the Leafs could take on more LTIR contract to help them ease their cap crunch. 

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If you’re in LTIR, you might as well go all-in because the penalties involved are there whether you use $1 of it or $30 million of it by the end of the season.

Given that, it’s possible the Leafs look around the league and add even more of these contracts in the coming months.

More weird trades? Sure, why not.

In the comments of his article, Mirtle goes on to mention three targets that he has heard mentioned, Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik and Patrick Eaves.

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Callahan was one that was mentioned to me. Gaborik is out there. Eaves. There are a lot of players on LTIR.

Interesting. All players are more or less retired, but will play out the rest of their contracts on LTIR barring a remarkable comeback.

Thoughts, Leafs fans?