Welcome to The Leafs Nation trade deadline day live tracker, your one-stop shop for everything Leafs on deadline day. This is where you’ll find all of the latest Leafs-related rumors and speculation from the NHL’s insiders as the clock ticks down on one of the wildest trade seasons the league has ever seen.
The Leafs have already made sweeping changes to their roster over the last couple of weeks, bringing in the likes of Ryan O’Reilly, Jake McCabe, Noel Acciari, Erik Gustafsson, Sam Lafferty, and returning fan-favorite Luke Schenn while shipping out Rasmus Sandin, Pierre Engvall, and a whole pile of draft picks. Be sure to check out our analysis of all of those moves if you haven’t already.
Kyle Dubas has already gotten his heavy lifting done, and another big move seems unlikely, but it would be silly to rule anything out with what we have seen unfold over the last few weeks, not just with the Leafs but around the entire league. There has been speculation that the Leafs are still working the phones in the final hours before the deadline passes, perhaps seeking one more piece up front as they are currently carrying nine defensemen and just 12 forwards on their active roster.
Heading into deadline day, the Leafs are sitting at approximately $925K in cap space after accounting for Matt Murray returning from LTIR and Joseph Woll being reassigned to the Marlies. That’s just enough space to sign top prospect Matthew Knies should he opt to turn pro in the next few weeks, and they don’t need to clear a roster spot for him as the 23-man roster limit no longer applies as of deadline day.
The Leafs could stand pat with the improvements they have already made to their roster, but they do have another prime asset in Boston’s 2023 first-round pick, which was acquired in the Rasmus Sandin trade, and there are options for them to create additional flexibility under the salary cap should they so choose. It promises to be an interesting day, so stay connected with The Leafs Nation trade deadline day tracker for all the latest!
Live Tracker
12:10am ET: Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff.com reports that if the Leafs are to make any further additions, Justin Holl is the most likely candidate to be moved out in order to create cap space. Seravalli adds that it doesn’t appear the Leafs are looking at adding a goaltender.
“If Toronto is to add on Friday, possibly to better balance out the roster with a forward, then the odd-man out might be pending UFA defenseman Justin Holl. His $2 million cap hit is one of the only ways to create cap flexibility. The smart money is not on the Leafs adding an insurance goaltender as they seem pretty comfortable with Ilya Samsonov, Murray and Woll if need be.”
