Leafs Trade Matt Martin to Islanders

“How will the Leafs afford to keep Tavares, Matthews, Marner, and Nylander together? It’s just not possible, especially with their cap situation right now”

This is how. You get rid of the dead weight on the cap.

Not to say that Matt Martin is dead weight, but his contract was, and with Martin not playing much anymore, his contract wasn’t really needed.

The Leafs traded Matt Martin to the New York Islanders in exchange for Eamon McAdam.

There was increased interest in Martin after free agency, especially with his $1.5 million signing bonus being paid on July 1st.

In 132 games with the Leafs, Martin had eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points, although he was more known as the team’s tough guy, with 173 penalty minutes during that time. McAdam is essentially an AHL/ECHLer who will add some depth to the organization, especially considering that Sparks and Pickard probably won’t be back on the Marlies.

This is a trade that (sort of) works well for both teams. Since Tavares signed with the Leafs, the talk has always been “we don’t have cap space to keep all four of our stars”, and this is how you manage that, by shedding the depth players who are getting paid too much. While $2.5 million doesn’t seem like much, when the anticipated cap crunch comes, every penny counts.

As for the Islanders, it makes some sense as to why they did this. Lou Lamoriello was the guy who originally signed him to this contract, so it makes sense that he sees value, and with the Islanders needing to reach the cap floor and not really looking like they’ll be in a cap crunch for a while, it makes sense to bring in a guy that’s a fan favourite to keep the fans happy during this franchise’s current state.

Like I said, this team is going to be in a cap crunch soon, and shedding all the fat will be part of what helps keep this team together. What’s next? I’d maybe have my eyes on Nikita Zaitsev, but they wait a bit longer with that one.