Leafs Nation Draft Day Rumour Heap

There’s been plenty of coverage here over the last few months about the top selection in the draft, as well as some digging into how things might play out later down the line. But we know that outside the actual picks, this offseason is being hyped as potentially the most active we’ve seen in years in terms of roster movement. And no doubt that’s been evident over the last few days, as a few deals have already been completed, including perhaps the most major one by the Leafs themselves.

There’s a chance that after this weekend is over, some major pieces will have moved around the league. And to make things more interesting, it seems that the lines between buyer and seller have really started to blur. You could argue that almost every team appears to be both in some capacity.

With so much to keep track of, we figured it would be in everyone’s best interest that, on the morning of the draft, we round up what’s being floated out there as we get ready for a compelling few days.

Teams make attempts at trading for the top pick every year. It never works. And this year is no different, as we’ve already been hearing some rumblings about the Coyotes perhaps making an offer to get Matthews in his hometown. Apparently now you can add the Jackets in there too.

Don’t worry, the pick isn’t going anywhere. Jarmo himself went on to say he feels that getting the Leafs to budge isn’t a possibility. It’ll be interesting to see if the Jets and Jackets might link up for something though.

Beyond the big three, the three western Canadian teams at 4-5-6 all seem willing to move down or nab a roster player using those picks as currency. It could make for some big drama on the draft floor, but it’s obviously doubtful the Leafs are in conversations for any of those slots.

Now we’re talking about somewhere Toronto could get active in trading. We’ve looked at names like Barrie, Shattenkirk, and Trouba in the past, along with keeping a close eye on what’s happening in Anaheim with their blue line. All of that is likely to keep re-surfacing over the weekend.

We’ve argued here from both sides of whether or not Shattenkirk might make sense for the Leafs. We won’t get in-depth about that again, but either way, it looks like he’s on the move. Trouba will be trickier.

And it almost sounds like Cam Fowler is as good as gone from the Ducks.

Finally, while the Leafs are a division rival and don’t make any sense as a trading partner…

Everything is staying pretty quiet on the Stamkos front, but as we noted here earlier this week, the window for teams to start interviewing with him begins on June 25th (also known as tomorrow). There’s absolutely no doubt the Leafs will be making a pitch to get him, but just as you might expect, they have a number in mind (that’s not too astronomical), and they won’t go beyond it.

Put frankly, if Stamkos signs in Toronto, you can rest assured it’s because he took a pay cut relative to what else offered out there in free agency.

As for what Yzerman and the Lightning are currently offering, the 8.5-million dollar cap hit that was reported as part of a five-year deal earlier in the year appears to have been bumped up to the full eight years now.

He’s going to market.

Lastly, we should touch on James van Riemsdyk, who is basically part of every proposed deal Leafs fans can think up.

It’s easy to see why JVR comes up so often when talking about acquiring those bigger targets (particularly those defencemen like Shattenkirk, Trouba, etc.): Because he’s one of the only roster players on the Leafs with any real value. They just locked up Rielly and Kadri, and likely won’t move on from any of the kids, so it makes sense to see his name keep coming up.

It’s also important to note that, like Subban, Van Riemsdyk will have a no-movement clause that kicks in next week.

Guess we can toss a bit more gas on that fire.

Enjoy the draft.