Maple Leafs winger Matt Martin is slated to be a healthy scratch for the eighth straight game on Saturday and unsurprisingly, there are questions as to whether he is part of Toronto’s future plans. Accordingly, Postmedia’s Lance Hornby mentions that there have been rumblings about the Leafs offering Martin to the Islanders, his former team. He adds that they would likely have to retain some of his $2.5MM cap hit to facilitate a trade. It’s worth noting that the 28-year-old has two years remaining on his contract beyond this season and that Toronto already has one of their three retained salary slots tied up through 2021-22 in Phil Kessel. However, with the team having plenty of depth on the wing already and a quickly-diminishing role, it still may be worthwhile for GM Lou Lamoriello to consider holding back some of Martin’s contract to get a deal done.
More from the East:
- While the Islanders won’t be trading captain John Tavares before the deadline, it doesn’t appear that they will be overly active in trying to add notable rental players to try to make a run for the playoffs either. Speaking with Newsday’s Steven Marcus, GM Garth Snow stated that they won’t be moving their top draft picks for pending free agents, stating that doing so wouldn’t make sense for them at this time. New York currently is tied for the last Wild Card spot in the East and could use help both on their back end and in goal in the coming weeks.
- The Red Wings have received some interest in winger Gustav Nyquist, reports Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. However, a move may still be depending on whether or not Detroit is willing to retain part of his $4.75MM contract through next season. The 28-year-old is on pace for his lowest point total in any of his five NHL seasons as he has just 24 (15-9-24) through 52 games so far this season. Nyquist also has a no-trade clause that he would have to waive in order to be dealt.
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