Maple Leafs likely to trade enforcer to clear up cap space

The Toronto Maple Leafs are right up against the salary cap and will need to make moves quickly. Enforcer Ryan Reaves may be on his way out from the team.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot of players that GM Brad Treliving could possibly trade to clear up cap space, such as Calle Jarnkrok or David Kampf. Despite these players, the best option would be to trade a player who is easily replaceable, like Ryan Reaves.

Reaves is a fan favourite and his teammates love him. He is also one of the last remaining enforcers in the NHL. The Leafs have liked having players like Reaves over the years, as they have had Tie Domi, Darcy Tucker, and now have Max Domi.

Reaves provides energy on the ice and engages in fights, but doesn't do much more than that, so the team cannot really rely on him to score a big goal when they need it. It doesn't help that Reaves only plays five to eight minutes a night. He doesn't get much ice time because teams have a better chance of scoring goals when he's on the ice. Reaves also takes a lot of penalties, which means the Leafs are always having to kill penalties.

Reaves makes $1.35 million per year, however for what he does on the ice, spending that much money is way too much for the Leafs. Reaves only had six points in 49 games last season, and his +/- was awful at a -13 rating. The Leafs need to improve their bottom six forwards, and Reaves is clearly not the solution. The Leafs should try to trade him and get someone that they can pay the league minimum salary who will score more than Reaves does. All they need is a player who can score 10 goals, and that would already be a significant upgrade.

Fans are worried that it will be hard to move Reaves to another team, however there are clubs out there who would like a player like him, but it doesn't appear to be the Leafs. There are teams who would be willing to take on his salary, and the Leafs would not have to give up any top rated prospects for other organizations to acquire Reaves. GM of the Leafs Brad Treliving could perhaps attach a middle or late round draft pick and that would easily entice other teams to acquire Reaves.

$1.275 million in cap space is what the Leafs roughly have now, as per PuckPedia. If they are able to somehow trade Reaves, they would then be at $2.625M in available cap space. If Kampf or Jarnkrok are also traded, that would put their available salary cap space to about $4.9 million or so, which they could then use to acquire a difference making player than can score 20 or more goals, or possibly add a really solid defenseman. The Leafs have a lot of ways to make their team better, and it is clear that GM Brad Treliving will need to get the ball rolling by trading away their enforcer, Ryan Reaves.

Source: Daily Hockey DoseThe Toronto Maple Leafs need to figure out a way to clear up some cap space, and the ideal situation would be to trade away enforcer Ryan Reaves.

Source: HockeyDBRyan Reaves Stats

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