Toronto Maple Leafs to Trade One of Their Veterans?
Leo Komarov, Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk look out of place in a Toronto Maple Leafs' roster loaded with young inexperienced players who are years away from their prime. The trio has seen their former teammates leave one after another in the past few seasons as the team continues to embrace a youth movement, and now one of them may be on the move as well as the three of them enter the final year in their contracts.
All three will become sought-after rental players next season and the Maple Leafs will likely get a nice return if they trade them. But it looks like van Riemsdyk and Bozak want to stick around and play for the Maple Leafs next season.
"I've loved playing here ever since I came here. How I've been treated is great. It's a place I want to play for as long as I can. Where that takes things, we'll see what happens. I love playing here," van Riemsdyk said during locker clean-out day earlier this week, via Maple Leafs Hotstove.
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"Hopefully I'll be here at the start of next year. I've been through a lot here, and to see where we're going now, it's something I'd like to be a part of. I thought I had a good year and played well. The rest is out of my control," Bozak stated, according to Sportsnet.
It sounds like Komarov is expecting to return as well and he said he's going to get ready for next season after he gets a little rest this summer.
Of course, the Maple Leafs can always sign them to extensions. But if they do that, things will get a bit complicated cap-wise in the next few summers when a number of their young forwards come off their entry-level contracts.
The Maple Leafs can't possibly keep all three of them after next season and this may force the team to trade at least one of them.
