As free agency gets closer, lots of people are wondering what will happen in the Toronto Maple Leafs. It looks like Brad Treliving and the Leafs leaders will say goodbye to three important players.
Three Players to Leave the Leafs
The Leafs have a busy schedule in the offseason, with more than ten unrestricted free agents and a few restricted ones. They're expected to have less than $10 million to spend during the offseason.
You can't talk about the Leafs' money issues without mentioning Jake Muzzin. The veteran might have to quit hockey because of a bad back injury that kept him out of almost the entire 2022-23 season.
Muzzin will probably end up on the LTIR, which means his salary won't hit the Leafs' cap space. This gives the team an extra $5.625 million to use.
But even with this extra money, the Leafs have some hard decisions to make. NHL expert Chris Johnston recently shared his thoughts about what the Leafs might do with three important free agents in a podcast.
"It's my understanding at this point that some of the veteran players that have been with the Leafs that are UFAs like Alex Kerfoot, Justin Holl, Michael Bunting even that they won't be back."
More are Leaving
Johnston's thoughts are similar to what Frank Seravalli reported earlier. He said that Bunting and Ryan O'Reilly might leave the Leafs for a team that pays them more.
Most Leafs fans won't be sad about Justin Holl and Alex Kerfoot leaving. But Bunting's departure could hurt more. However, the Leafs are expecting Matthew Knies to be on the team all next year and he might be able to take on the role that Bunting leaves.