The Toronto Maple Leafs have been linked to Jack Roslovic in free agency.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman says they’re one of six teams that could be in play for the forward who just put in 22 goals for the Carolina Hurricanes.
To make that signing, though, Toronto would likely have to clear cap space.
The Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco sees two clear ways to do that.
“Forwards Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf are top candidates (at least on paper) to be cleared out to shed salary,” writes Di Marco.
There’s just one problem:
“There doesn’t seem to have been any talks recently to potentially move either player,” Di Marco added.
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After that, Di Marco piles on to the Roslovic suggestion, then writes this: “There is no way that you can replace Mitch Marner’s production with one player, so the Leafs will have to do it by committee. Getting internal advancements from forwards Matthew Knies and Max Domi in their respective offensive outputs may be the best hope the Leafs have to make up for Marner’s offense.”
It really does all come back to Marner, doesn’t it?
This whole offseason has felt like an uphill battle to make it seem like the loss of the two-way superstar in a sign-and-trade to the Golden Knights wasn’t actually a loss.
It was, though. There’s no replacing Marner.
But the Maple Leafs can continue to improve around the edges, and if Roslovic comes in and one of Jarnkrok or Kampf goes out, that’s a plus. It’s just not obvious, based on Di Marco’s reporting, that such a trade to shed salary is actually in the cards.
