The recent moves of Chris Tanev and Dakota Joshua to long-term injured reserve open up opportunities to use their respective assets as a means to help facilitate trades.
SEATTLE — The Toronto Maple Leafs made a series of roster moves on Thursday that could be beneficial for the club if they indeed make the leap to become sellers ahead of the NHL trade deadline next month.
On Thursday, the club activated Dakota Mermis from injured reserve while sending him down. They also called up defenseman Marshall Rifai, but added both Dakota Joshua and Chris Tanev to long-term injured reserve (LTIR). Joshua suffered a lacerated kidney on Dec. 28 and recently resumed some light skating. Tanev also last played on Dec. 28, when he suffered a groin injury. Having also previously dealt with a concussion earlier this season and another injury when he was taken off the ice on a stretcher against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 11, the veteran defenseman has been in a holding pattern contemplating surgery with no clear timeline on a return.
As PuckPedia.com notes, the Leafs are under the salary cap with all players accounted for on their roster (including LTIR) with a total cap hit of $94,320,207. The NHL salary cap this season is $95.5 million. By staying under the cap, they could accrue as much as $2,191,045 if their current roster stayed as it is without any changes before the Mar. 6 deadline.
However, by keeping their LTIR pool, the Leafs still have the advantage of utilizing the cap hits of Dakota Joshua ($3.25 million) and Chris Tanev ($4.5 million) in the event neither player is available in the short term. If the Leafs sell and determine they aren’t playoff-bound, there is potential to unlock all of Tanev’s $4.5 million cap hit instead of the approximately $3.82 million available under the new salary cap rules by placing the defenseman on season-ending LTIR.
This, in turn, would be valuable space the Leafs could use to absorb contracts in exchange for assets that would improve the club in the long term, whether it be prospects or draft picks.
The Leafs are set to visit the Seattle Kraken on Thursday as the club sets out on a four-game road trip before the Olympic break kicks in. They are currently in last place in the Atlantic Division with a 24-20-9 record. Surely, a further slide in the standings could see them pivot to "sell mode," and that’s when it might make the most sense to help other teams clear space by absorbing short-term deadweight contracts.