There is very little to talk about in terms of the Toronto Maple Leafs right now.
We were hit with some type of nonsensical James Van Riemsdyk rumour, due to the teams X account posting a clip of a goal from the former Leaf. To me it appears to be no more than their media folks having too much time on their hands and wanting to have a little fun.
There was an equally ridiculous (in my opinion, anyway) rumour that involved Morgan Rielly heading to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Steven Stamkos. The Predators are in no mans land right now, with an aging core that isn’t exactly high end. They aren’t contenders for the Stanley Cup, but they also don’t appear to want to do a full rebuild. That time may be coming, but for now they will continue to try to add younger pieces, as they did this summer with Mavrik Bourque, Jack Drury and Nils Hoglander. Until that time does come I don’t believe this type of deal will come to fruition. Stamkos scored 42 goals last season, while Rielly had 36 points, which means the value is extremely lopsided. In order for this deal to happen the Leafs would have to add considerable value on their end and that would be true even if Stamkos asked for a trade and utilized his full NMC to head to Toronto and nowhere else.
There is still speculation that the Leafs would prefer to move on from Rielly, while #44 would also be happy for a fresh start. Until some things around the NHL are resolved, such as the signing of RFAs Jason Robertson, Cutter Gauthier, Adam Fantilli and Alex Nikishin, I wouldn’t expect much though. Teams are holding onto their capspace at the moment, with the hope that a valuable RFA shakes loose.
There was also some whispers circulating that the Leafs have a “hand shake” deal with a UFA forward, but which forward that would be is anybody’s guess.
It isn’t James Van Riemsdyk. He simply doesn’t fit the direction the team appears to be taking.
I can only guess, but Philip Kurashev, Eeli Tolvanen, Gustav Nyquist and Reilly Smith make sense for a variety of reasons. Two-way play, PK ability and the ability to play multiple positions are assets that the team appears to be looking for and those players possess, to some degree or another.
I hope you’re all enjoying your summer. It’s been hectic and delightful for the staff here at puckinleafs (I’m the only one that works here). I would love for the next NHL season to start today, but I’m also thoroughly enjoying the nice weather, so I hope the next 2 months of dog days drag along slowly. I’ll try to keep a fresh sheet of ice up in the meantime.