Maple Leafs Closing In On Another Trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Riley Nash on Friday in a very 'creative' deal and according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, another move should soon follow. General manager Kyle Dubas has been working the phones trying to find dance partners and after the Columbus deal, the Leafs GM appears to be on the verge of another move.

With acquiring Nash on Friday the Leafs were able to move his salary to Long Term Injury Reserve to save a few bucks as he's not expected to be healthy enough to play until the playoffs. Nash was added strictly as insurance and a depth move, as he's capable of being a shut-down center that they will need come the postseason. 

Johnston thinks the Nash move could propel into something bigger for the Buds:

The only real question now is whether Frederik Andersen will be healthy enough to play another game for the Toronto Maple Leafs before the end of the regular season.

If he’s sidelined until the playoffs, Friday’s creative cap-bending maneuver to acquire depth forward Riley Nash while triggering the long-term injury provision signalled that Kyle Dubas has roughly $5-million in space to play with heading into the trade deadline.

Keep an eye on what the Leafs do with Andersen this weekend. If the team moves him to LTIR, expect a blockbuster trade from Toronto as they will have lots of money to work with. If they keep Andersen on the active roster, while the Leafs are expected to make another trade, don't expect anything crazy and more so another cheaper depth move to provide some more insurance for the playoffs.

As far as players go, the Leafs have been linked to Mike Hoffman and Tyler Bozak of St Louis, Scott Laughton of the Philadelphia Flyers, Miles Wood of the New Jersey Devils and Nick Foligno of the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

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