The Toronto Maple Leafs could be the ultimate beneficiaries of a potential cap crunch facing the Colorado Avalanche.
The Avalanche have the unenviable situation of needing to extend the NHL’s best defenseman, Cale Makar.
Makar will be entering the final year of his current six-year deal, worth $9 million AAV. That’s a pittance when considering the numbers and the hardware he’s put up during the contract’s lifetime.
Some estimates point towards Makar landing a new contract in the $18 million AAV range. If that’s what Makar wants, the Avalanche will have to pay.
And that situation could mean that a team like the Maple Leafs could benefit from the contracts Colorado will have to shed to make the math work.
As it stands, the Avalanche have two interesting names on Frank Servalli’s offseason trade board. In particular, Ross Colton and Jack Drury stand out as names that could be on the move this offseason.
Those names sound like ones that could fit the Maple Leafs’ retool very well.
Let’s start with Colton. He’s a versatile forward who can play all over the lineup. He’s the sort of player the Leafs lost when Alexander Kerfoot left Toronto a few seasons ago. Colton is a Swiss Army knife and can chip in with some depth scoring.
While he’s not necessarily going to score 30 goals, he can chip in 15 to 20 in a predominant middle-six role. Best of all, he can slide between center and wing as needed.
With one more year at $4 million, he’s a shot worth taking.
Maple Leafs Could Use Reliable Bottom-Six Center
The Maple Leafs traded their most reliable bottom-six center, Nic Roy, to the Avalanche this offseason.
Now, it seems interesting that the Leafs would try to get one back in Jack Drury. Drury was a bit of an overlooked piece in the Mikko Rantanen trade last season with the Carolina Hurricanes. His role in Colorado has been mostly as a fourth-line center. And that’s a role he’ll likely keep in Toronto.
But given the Maple Leafs’ clear lack of depth down the middle, it wouldn’t be strange to see Drury get a shot at a third-line spot. Toronto clearly needs someone behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares.
While it might be a bit of a stretch to see Drury slide in between Matthews and Tavares as a second-liner center, he could become an option should the next Leafs’ bench boss need someone else to fill the void.
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Acquisition Cost Could Be Much Lower Than Expected
As for the acquisition cost, the Maple Leafs could land one of Colton or Drury, or both, for much less than expected.
The Avalanche won’t be selling low on either one. But if push comes to shove, and the Avalanche really need to clear cap space, they could let either player go for an affordable price tag.
The key thing is that the Avalanche will have to take draft picks or prospects back, as they can’t take any other contracts. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Maple Leafs pay with third and fourth-round picks to get a deal off the ground.
Maple Leafs Could Benefit from Cale Makar Extension