The Leafs may have no choice but to play overpaid forward in 2016.

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HockeyFeed
Published 7 years ago
The Leafs may have no choice but to play overpaid forward in 2016.
Images Courtesy of Keystone Press

The Leafs have very little options when it comes to Joffrey Lupul.

The Toronto Maple Leafs' forward signed a five-year, $26.25-million contract extension with the team in January of 2013, and the tem has been paying heavily for that choice.

Over his last three seasons with the Maple Leafs, the 32-year old has suffered a separated shoulder, strained groin, broken hand, knee surgery, concussion and most recently a sports hernia, among other ailments. These various injuries have limited him to 186 of 294 possible games (63 per cent) since inking the new deal. 

His production has seen steady decline with his health and in 2015-16 Lupul posted a meagre 14 points in 46 games played. With Lupul set to make a whopping $5.2 million a season over the next two years, it is clear that the Leafs would like to move his contract elsewhere.

Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello has said that Lupul's future with the team is uncertain, so their options are either to trade Lupul or ride out his current deal. The problem arises in that fact that there is no team that would be willing to take on Lupul's contract without incentive from the Leafs. This would likely come in the form of an important prospect, something the Leafs would like to avoid if possible.

There is a third possibility, and that would be to place Lupul on long term injured reserve (LTIR), much like the team did with Stephane Robidas when he had a serious knee injury last season. However a move like that could cause consequences from the National Hockey League Players’ Association, as Lupul is healthy and wants to play.

Letting Lupul play out the remainder of his deal may be the only option Toronto has left.

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Source: TSN