2 Maple Leafs Forwards Becoming Trade Candidates

The Toronto Maple Leafs already have one obvious trade candidate in defenseman Timothy Liljegren. But due to an upcoming salary cap crunch, two forwards may find themselves on the trade block as well, as suggested by Adam Proteau in The Hockey News.

He labels fourth-liners Ryan Reaves and David Kampf as eventual candidates to be shipped out.

Reaves has not played much of a role for the Leafs this season, being a healthy scratch twice in their first seven games, and playing only 8:13 on average when he is in the lineup. The enforcer had a very similar time on ice number last season with Toronto, when he got into 49 games and handed out 165 hits.

He's in the second season of a three-year deal with a $1.35 million cap hit.

Kampf will be even more difficult to move, as he's only in the second season of a four-year contract that pays him an AAV of $2.4 million. That's a fairly hefty cap hit for a mainly fourth-liner who doesn't contribute much on the score sheet or even in the physicality department. Last year, Kampf recorded 8 goals and 19 points in 78 games, playing 13:29 per night. His ice time this season is at a career low at 11:17 and he has 1 assist in six games, having been a healthy scratch once.

Forwards Calle Jarnkrok, Connor Dewar and D-man Jani Hakanpaa are all hoping to be back off injured reserve sometime in November. That's about $4.7 million in cap space that the Leafs will need to find, all totaled. Even Reaves & Kampf together won't get it done, but it would be a good start.

If trades aren't able to be swung, those two could find themselves on waivers and sent down to the AHL Marlies (as they will undoubtedly go unclaimed).