NHL Rumors: Maple Leafs Could Move Defenseman

According to Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, the Toronto Maple Leafs could move Jake Muzzin if they feel that Rasmus Sandin is ready to become a mainstay in their top four.

Sandin has seen his role with the team increase this season. He has played a career-high 36 games on the year, where he has one goal, nine assists, and a plus-7 rating. The 21-year-old is showing that he is ready to be a full-time NHLer and certainly is showing true signs of improvement. With that, the 2018 first-round pick is starting to truly grow into his potential.

Still, though, the Leafs would need to believe in Sandin completely if they were to trade Muzzin. The latter has proven himself as being a legitimate top-four defenseman for years now. However, he is also having a down year for his standards, as he has one goal, 10 assists, and a minus-2 rating. Keep in mind, he just had a 27-point campaign in 53 games last season.

With the Maple Leafs needing to re-sign Jack Campbell this offseason, we could elect to see them move out money from here. Muzzin has a $5.625 million cap hit until the completion of the 2023-24 season. However, he also has a 10-team no-trade list, so there is a bit of an obstacle moving him.

Alas, time will tell if the Leafs do decide to move out Muzzin. However, this kind of move does feel like one that would occur in the offseason, rather than before the playoffs.