Elliotte Friedman doesn’t believe Maple Leafs will use any buyouts on players

The Toronto Maple Leafs‘ roster appears to be set for a major overhaul this summer, specifically on offence. It’s likely that the defensive corps will stay intact, save for a couple of depth players swapping, and the goaltending tandem of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll isn’t going anywhere.

Up front, however, it’s a different story. Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies are all in need of new contracts, among others, and the possibility of Marner moving on after nine years with the organization could drastically shape their forward look. With or without Marner, the Leafs will likely be looking for ways to open up some extra cap space to help them with the players they want to retain. Despite this, don’t expect them to use any buyouts to help them get there, at least according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

On the latest 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Friedman speculated that the Leafs will likely try to sign Tavares to a longer-term deal with a lower average annual value (AAV), and if they’re successful, the need to use a buyout is diminished.

“I don’t think Toronto is going to do a buyout. I don’t think they’re going to go that way. One of the things about Tavares, which is three years at a bigger AAV, or you could go the Chris Tanev or Yanni Gourde way. I could see Toronto pitching that.” -Elliotte Friedman

This comes days after Friedman reported that the Leafs will likely consider their buyout options, which was a bit of a non-update to begin with. General manager Brad Treliving wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t consider all solutions, but the Leafs don’t really have any contracts that they desperately need to get out of.

David Kampf entering the third year of a four-year extension worth $2.4 million annually isn’t a great look considering he was a scratch for most of the Leafs’ playoff run, but it’s not a contract that’s too expensive to trade, if they needed to. Calle Jarnkrok is in a similar boat, entering the final year of a four-year contract worth $2.1 million annually, but when he’s fully healthy, he’s worth that money all day. Max Domi’s contract of $3.75 million per year for the next three years is a bit of an eyesore, but using a buyout on him one year into a new deal would be horrible asset management and likely not worth the penalty that it would cost the Leafs. Then you have Ryan Reaves, and while $1.3 million is more than they’d want to be paying him for how little he played last season, it’s likely easier to either anticipate his retirement or bury him in the AHL if he wants to keep playing.

The Maple Leafs’ cap situation will be an interesting one to monitor over the next few weeks, but despite earlier reports, don’t expect the Leafs to execute on any of their buyout options.