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Nikita Zaitsev

Atlantic Notes: Honka, Juulsen, Chabot, Stralman, Nordstrom

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Despite rumors that the Dallas Stars were looking for a taker for once prized prospect Julius Honka, the 23-year-old finally requested a trade Friday with several teams immediately showing interest in the blueliner. Now Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports that the Montreal Canadiens have expressed interest in the defenseman.

Engels writes that a couple of teams are in on Honka with Montreal being at the top of the list (Elliotte Friedman added that Carolina is interested as well) and Montreal has expressed interest in making a player-for-player swap rather than just send a draft pick for Honka. A former first-rounder in 2014, Honka has failed to earn a regular spot in Dallas lineup. Montreal could use some more depth on their blueline despite adding Ben Chiarot this offseason.

  • Sticking with the Canadiens, Engels also reports that a pair of defensemen remain day-to-day in Montreal. Karl Alzner is out with a groin injury, while Noah Juulsen has been dealing with a headache and the Canadiens are holding him out for precautionary reasons after having dealt with head injuries last season. Juulsen played just 21 games for Montreal last season and three for the AHL’s Laval Rocket due to those head injuries.
  • Asked if any Ottawa Senators players caught his eye on the first day of training camp, new head coach D.J. Smith had a quick answer, according to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. “Chabot … he was really good and he could really skate. There’s good players out there and guys were working, but when you see up close, a guy like that, you see his skating and it really wows you a bit.” It looks like Smith has opted to pair Chabot with newly acquired Nikita Zaitsev and the belief is that those two may stay together. Chabot spent last season paired with Dylan DeMelo, but with several players coming over with Smith from Ottawa, the defense should be somewhat stronger this season.
  • The Athletic’s George Richards (subscription required) writes that Florida Panthers defenseman Anton Stralman says that he intends to be ready for the regular season after dealing with a sports hernia injury that has ended his season last year and one that required surgery again oer the summer, which he’s been rehabbing from all summer. Stralman says that he is done rehabbing, but now must get used to on-ice drills, which his body is only starting to adjust to. “I’m not 100 percent yet. We still have some more work to do, but I am getting there,” Stralman said. “I like the plan we have as a medical team, and it means working long hours to get where I need to be. But there is no rehab anymore. It’s about repetition, getting onto the ice.” Stralman looks to be paired with Mike Matheson on defense this season.
  • NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty writes that despite all the injuries that the Boston Bruins are dealing with, the team got some good news as Joakim Nordstrom, who fractured his foot at the end of the Stanley Cup Finals, is back on the ice skating after spending the summer rehabbing the injury. While his 12 points in 70 games may not seem impressive, the 27-year-old uses his skills on the penalty kill and providing grit on the bottom line.

Snapshots: Brown, Thomas, Gomez

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Connor Brown may seem like just one of a number of additions the Ottawa Senators have made this off-season, but it turns out that the team had their eye on the veteran forward for some time and have high expectations for him this year. Speaking with Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, Senators GM Pierre Dorion states that his interest in Brown began long before the team hired former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant D.J. Smith as their new head coach and belongs in a separate category from familiar additions Nikita Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey, and Tyler Ennis. While that group of veterans was brought in from Toronto to provide leadership and stability in a young locker room under a first-time NHL head coach, Dorion sees a larger role for Brown. “We just feel he was someone on a very skilled team that probably didn’t get the offensive looks he would have gotten on a lot of other teams,” Dorion states, suggesting “We feel he’s going to get back to being the 20-goal scorer he was in his rookie year.” Brown did hit 20 goals, as well as 36 points, in a breakout rookie campaign three years ago, but his goal scoring totals have dropped precipitously since then: 14 goals in 2017-18 and 8 goals in 2018-19. Brown will certainly have the opportunity to improve his numbers on an Ottawa roster that lack many established scorers, but Dorion’s projection of 20+ goals may be lofty for a player who has looked comfortable as a 30-point, two-way forward over the last few years.

  • Akil Thomas is on the Los Angeles Kings’ roster for their upcoming rookie tournament and is poised to compete for an NHL roster spot in training camp. However, even though their intention was to honor the young forward, his junior team made it clear that they don’t expect him to break camp with the Kings this year. The OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs have named Thomas their captain for the 2019-20 season, the team already announced, although Thomas is still weeks away from pushing for a place with the Kings. Thomas more than earned the role with his play last year, recording 102 points in 63 games for a powerhouse team that has since lost the likes of Jason Robertson, Jack Studnicka, and Ben Jones to the pros. Nevertheless, even those dominant numbers don’t guarantee the 2018 second-round pick a role with L.A. this season. The Kings sport an impressive group of prospects competing for few openings. Recent high picks Rasmus Kupari and Jaret Anderson-Dolan probably have an edge on Thomas if the Kings opt to add a rookie forward to the starting lineup, likely leading Niagara to safely assume that their star forward will be back this season.
  • After two years on the job, Scott Gomez has decided to leave the New York Islanders coaching staff, Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports. The team has confirmed the move and stressed that Gomez was not fired. Gomez was originally hired by Doug Weight, but served under Barry Trotz last season as well. Gomez is remembered most for his dynamic offensive play early in his pro career with the New Jersey Devils. It could be that his philosophy on offense didn’t mesh with Trotz’ ultra-conservative scheme, prompting him to seek a better fit elsewhere, but there has been no word as to the reasoning behind Gomez’ departure. If Gomez wants to continue coaching, there is undoubtedly a place for him in the pro or junior ranks.

Atlantic Notes: Senators, Dahlin, Alzner

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The Ottawa Senators are very much a brand new team entering the 2019-20 season. Gone are the likes of Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Cody Ceci, and Zack Smith. New to the team are names like Artem Anisimov, Nikita Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey, and Connor Brown, while prospects like Erik Brannstrom, Drake Batherson, Josh Norris, and Max Veronneau are set to push for regular roles. On top of all of the roster turnover, the team also has a new head coach in D.J. Smith. Given these considerable changes, Smith’s comments to Sportsnet’s Wayne Scanlan comes as little surprise. First and foremost, Smith tells Scanlan that the Senators will not name a captain in the coming season. The team did not have a captain last season following the departure of Erik Karlsson and now has even fewer tenured veterans. He did say that there will be veteran members, old and new, who he will rely on to play leadership roles in the locker room, but simply feels that the team must wait for a captain to naturally emerge. It also may not necessarily be one of the established veterans, as Smith notes that he will make a “conscious effort” to share ice time and responsibility evenly between the older players and many young players pushing for an opportunity. More than anything, Smith states that he hopes to change the culture in Ottawa, instilling a sense of belief and confidence in the new additions, young players, and perhaps even some of those long-time Senators who have survived a couple of difficult seasons. Based on Smith’s comments, it seems that the Senators will be a very new team indeed in many ways this coming season.

  • A young leader is developing for one of the Senators’ divisional rivals, the Buffalo Sabres. Phenom Rasmus Dahlin, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018 and a Calder Trophy finalist last season, is not afraid to speak his mind and knew what he was doing when he made some bold predictions to the Associated Press’ John Wawrow. “We’re going to be a winning team and be in the playoffs,” Dahlin told Wawrow, “I’m putting more pressure on myself… I think everyone is putting more pressure on ourselves now, and we’re ready to go… I feel more prepared. I feel more mature. Like that one year of experience, I know what’s coming this season. I feel more comfortable in my position… we’re going to get something good going on here.” It’s a strong statement from Dahlin and one that will surprise many. The Sabres have not made the playoffs since 2011 and finished 13th in the Eastern Conference this past season after a late-season collapse. The team arguably plays in the toughest division in the game as well, as Atlantic powerhouses Tampa Bay, Boston, and Toronto will almost certainly claim the top three seeds in the division, leaving Buffalo to fight for one of two wild card spots. Yet, the Sabres have to be happy that their 18-year-old centerpiece is bold enough to put those playoff expectations on his shoulders and will look to follow him back to postseason glory this season, no matter how tough the road may be.
  • Montreal Canadiens defenseman Karl Alzner would like to be part of his team’s playoff push next season as well. Unfortunately, Alzner’s poor play left him relegated to the AHL for all but nine games last season. After spending the summer working out with teammates Carey Price and Shea Weber, Alzner tells TVA’s Louis-André Larivière that he feels he is ready to once again be a regular contributor and hopes he is given a fair shot to compete for such a role in the team’s upcoming training camp. While Alzner stated that he does not want to waste years of his career, whether or not he has an NHL role is ultimately up to him. His own play and taxing $4.625MM cap hit are why he spent last season with the Laval Rocket and he must prove that he is worth keeping on the roster. Alzner revealed that he did not formally request a trade last season, but that he will likely do so if he is cut from Canadiens camp this fall. However, there may not be much of a market for his services and likely even less interest in promising him a regular role at the NHL level.

Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Nikita Zaitsev

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators have finalized a trade that will see Nikita Zaitsev and Cody Ceci swap teams. The Maple Leafs will send Zaitsev, Connor Brown and Michael Carcone to the Senators in exchange for Ceci, Ben Harpur, Aaron Luchuk and a 2020 third-round draft pick (originally from Columbus). The trade had to wait until today so that Toronto could pay out Zaitsev’s $3MM signing bonus, though technically that also meant he needed to waive the partial no-trade clause that has kicked in.

Zaitsev, 27, has five years left on his current contract and carries a $4.5MM cap hit, something the Maple Leafs needed to get out from under as they continue to work on an extension for restricted free agent Mitch Marner. The Russian defenseman signed a long-term deal with the club after an excellent rookie season in 2017 but saw his offensive numbers regress drastically as head coach Mike Babcock used him more and more in a shutdown role. That role never seemed like a perfect fit for the smooth-skating Zaitsev, who is used much more offensively at the international level with the Russian national team.

A capable penalty killer, he immediately becomes the Senators’ most expensive defenseman and reunites with former Maple Leafs assistant coach D.J. Smith who is now the boss in Ottawa. Zaitsev will likely be leaned on heavily for the Senators, who have plenty of inexperience on their blue line at the moment.

If not for this trade Ceci, 25, would have become the highest paid defender for the Senators as he was a year ago. Sitting currently as a restricted free agent he does have the option to file for salary arbitration but could also just elect to accept his $4.3MM qualifying offer. That may be the more prudent decision in this case, as heading to arbitration likely gives the Maple Leafs a chance to walk away from the decision altogether. It’s not clear what Toronto’s plans for Ceci are at this point.

Of the other pieces in the deal, Brown is clearly the most valuable. The bottom-six forward is heading into the final year of his current contract that carries a $2.1MM cap hit but is a useful player that can contribute in various situations. A 20-goal scorer as a rookie in 2016-17, the last two seasons have seen his goal totals drop dramatically as more talent was brought into the Toronto lineup. The sixth-round pick eventually found himself suiting up most nights on the fourth line, though he was still a favorite of Babcock’s on the penalty kill. The 25-year old will likely receive a bigger opportunity in Ottawa and could set himself up for another solid contract next summer with some improved offensive numbers.

Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion released a statement on his newest players:

“We’re bringing in highly competitive players that we like as long-term fits for our team. Both are the type of true professionals who match with the culture we want to put in place here in Ottawa,. Nikita is a physical right-shot defenceman who defends hard, fills lanes and blocks shots. Connor has scored 20 goals in the league and is excellent on the forecheck and the penalty kill. We feel both players will add to our depth and fit well within the structure we want our team to play.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Toronto’s Nikita Zaitsev Likely Heading To Ottawa

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have been trying to find a way to unload the contract of defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, who still has five years remaining at $4.5MM. It looks like the Maple Leafs have found a trade partner as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Toronto is working with the Ottawa Senators on a trade, while Sportnet’s Chris Johnston adds that it likely will involve a swap of defensemen as Cody Ceci could find himself heading back to Toronto.

The deal may take a couple of days as it’s likely Ottawa is waiting until July 1 so that Toronto is forced to pay Zaitsev his $3MM signing bonus before pulling the trigger on the trade. Ceci will be a restricted free agent and could become an unrestricted free agent in one year. Ceci and the Senators have been trying to work out a long-term deal, but haven’t been able to come to terms, and in fact haven’t even been close, with recent rumors suggesting that Ottawa has been considering shopping him now instead.

A trade with Ottawa could be interesting as TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Zaitsev has Ottawa on his 10-team modified no-trade list. However, the 27-year-old does have a relationship with new Senators head coach D.J. Smith, who has been an assistant coach in Toronto. That could be enough for Zaitsev to waive his no-trade clause and head to Ottawa. He has already requested a trade in the first place in hopes of getting a new opportunity somewhere else after struggling the past two years after an impressive rookie campaign. In Ottawa, he would likely take a significant role, especially if Ceci is headed the other way. The Senators do have Thomas Chabot as a top-four option and they have veteran Mark Borowiecki, but little else that is established yet, which should give Zaitsev the opportunity he is looking for.

Ceci, could be the defenseman they are looking for. The team has been looking to upgrade its defense without having to pay out any substantial money since they are up against the cap with a number of key free-agents to sign. Ceci should give Toronto that top-four defensive presence the team is looking for at a similar cost to that of Zaitsev, although it would give the team another restricted free agent that it would have to deal with this summer. Ceci finished last year with seven goals and 26 points. The team must decide whether it would want to sign Ceci to a long-term deal or allow him to go to arbitration with the possibility of losing him next season, although the team would have accomplished their goal of shedding the contract of Zaitsev, which may be the priority for Toronto at this point.

There is also the possibility that Toronto is taking on the contract with the idea of letting Ceci go to arbitration and then possibly walking away from Ceci without signing the contract, making him a free agent to free up the cap room. The team could also attempt to flip Ceci to another team as well.

Atlantic Notes: Backes, Kronwall, Reinhart, Zaitsev

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With the NHL salary cap set Saturday at $81.5MM for the 2019-20 season, cap room has become a premium. That became just as apparent Saturday when teams began unloading some of their expensive contracts, including Nashville’s P.K. Subban (to New Jersey), Tampa Bay’s J.T. Miller (to Vancouver) and Toronto’s Patrick Marleau (to Carolina). The latter trade of Marleau to the Hurricanes perhaps was the most interesting as Toronto also had to fork over a 2020 first-round pick as part of the package to unload Marleau’s $6.25MM contract.

That deal may become a precedent for teams hoping to move out a bad contract. In fact, because of that trade, The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa (subscription required) suggests that the Boston Bruins will likely have to keep forward David Backes on the roster for at least another year. The Bruins still owe $6MM to the 35-year-old Backes for another two seasons, which isn’t helping the team as they must re-sign a number of key free agents, including restricted free agents Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Danton Heinen and also wouldn’t mind keeping unrestricted free agents Marcus Johansson and Noel Acciari. Backes has struggled the last couple of seasons, but his numbers really fell off this season as he posted just seven goals and 20 points in 70 games and has fallen into a bottom-six role.

While the team wouldn’t mind unloading that contract, Shinzawa writes that the Marleau deal, which has a similar number to Backes’ contract, except for one more year, would almost guarantee cost the Bruins a first-round pick (and possibly more) to unload, which they are unlikely willing to do.

  • The Detroit Free-Press’ Helene St. James reports that the Detroit Red Wings and general manager Steve Yzerman won’t change their offseason plan as they wait for defenseman Niklas Kronwall to make a decision on whether he wants to return for a 16th season. The veteran may not make a decision until late in the offseason. One reason to suggest that the 38-year-old could return is that he is 47 games shy of having played 1,000 games. The long-time Red Wings blueliner still fared well last year, scoring three goals and 27 points in 79 games.
  • The Athletic’s John Vogl writes that while the Buffalo Sabres need a second-line center to give Casey Mittelstadt time to adjust to the NHL, general manager Jason Botterill said that it is unlikely that Sam Reinhart will be moving there. Reinhart, originally drafted as a center when he was the second-overall pick in 2014, saw his career take off when the team moved him to the right wing position two seasons ago. Since then, he’s tallied 47 goals in those two years. “Look, it’s always a possibility there,” said Botterill. “You have to be open to it and we’ll see how things go with Ralph (Krueger) with that discussion, but I also think in the last year or so, he’s excelled on the wing and I think he’s in a position where he can drive a line from the wing.”
  • The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel reports that Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said Saturday that there is nothing new on the trade front when it comes to moving defenseman Nikita Zaitsev. The team has made it clear to other teams they aren’t just going to use him as a salary dump. “We’re willing to try to accommodate him and work with him, but we need a similar player back,” Dubas said. “We don’t have the depth on D and we don’t want to rush our prospects.”

Atlantic Notes: Zaitsev, Johansson, Condon, Luongo

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The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have to, but if the team wants to move on from defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, it might be beneficial to trade him before July 1 when his 10-team no-trade clause kicks in. While Zaitsev has requested a trade as well, making it easier for Toronto to unload the five years remaining on his contract at $4.5MM, there are likely to be several teams interested in acquiring the 27-year-old.

In fact, The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required) looks into what teams would be the most likely to acquire the blueliner and the Edmonton Oilers find themselves at the top of the list. Zaitsev could be paired with one of Toronto’s forwards, either Connor Brown, Kasperi Kapanen or Andreas Johnsson to acquire either Matt Benning or even Adam Larsson in the right deal.

The Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks round out the top three teams who would make the best bets, but there are quiet a few other candidates as well.

  • Boston Globe’s Nick Kelly writes that Boston Bruins forward Marcus Johansson was non-committal Friday when asked about whether he wanted to return to Boston next season. An unrestricted free agent and a key contributor throughout the playoffs (four goals and 11 points in 22 games), the 28-year-old may have priced his way out of Boston. However, Johansson said he did enjoy his time with the Bruins and will speak to them first before looking at his other options.
  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that even though the Ottawa Sentators locked up backup goaltender Anders Nilsson to a tw0-year, $5.2MM extension which many thought would be the end for Mike Condon. The 29-year-old, who lost the backup job early last season, still has one year remaining on his contract at $2.4MM and seemed like a prime buyout candidate. However, general manager Pierre Dorion said the team will not buy him out and intend to bring him in to camp in the fall before determining what to do with him. Condon made just two appearances, allowing eight goals and had a .800 save percentage. He was sent to Belleville of the AHL for one game before he opted to sit out the rest of the year with hip inflammation. He hopes to be healthy for training camp.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes that he spoke recently to Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon, who told him that he expects goaltender Roberto Luongo to make a decision about his future soon, in fact, before the draft next Friday. The team needs an idea on whether Luongo intends to come back next year. Florida is expected to sign one of the top goaltenders on the market with Sergei Bobrovsky on the top of their list. However, if Luongo opt to return (he still has three years remaining at $4.53MM AAV), the team will have to find a way to move out James Reimer.

Latest On Nikita Zaitsev’s Trade Market

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The Toronto Maple Leafs are doing their best to accommodate a trade request from Nikita Zaitsev, and even with his long-term contract in tow they are getting interest from around the league. It was recently reported that the Vancouver Canucks had checked in on the Russian defenseman, and now Darren Dreger of TSN tweets that the Edmonton Oilers may have some interest as well. Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet has heard the same, though notes that both Vancouver and Edmonton have not yet made offers.

Zaitsev, 27, likely would have been on the trade block even without a request this summer. The Maple Leafs need to clear some cap space for the incoming Mitch Marner, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson contracts, and Zaitsev’s five remaining years at a $4.5MM cap hit was one of the more obvious moves the team could make. Moving the right-handed defenseman would leave an even bigger hole on the blue line for the Maple Leafs, but his play hasn’t warranted his contract over the last two seasons.

It’s those relative struggles that makes the Oilers’ interest somewhat questionable at best. Edmonton already has four defensemen earning at least $4MM per season and none of them are truly outproducing their salary. In fact, they have young players coming up through the system that will need bigger roles before long. Adding a player like Zaitsev may bring about some stability, given only Oscar Klefbom is signed for more than two seasons, but he would also reduce the opportunity someone like Evan Bouchard may need next season.

That is of course unless the team is looking to move out other names. The Oilers and Maple Leafs had been rumored to be discussing a trade at the deadline revolving around Connor Brown, and perhaps those talks have resurfaced along with Zaitsev. Even if Toronto does move Zaitsev and Patrick Marleau, they may still feel like they need a little more room. Brown’s $2.1MM cap hit is fine for most teams, but perhaps not the salary-squeezed Maple Leafs if he’s to continue playing on the fourth line.

It is important to note that Zaitsev will earn a $3MM signing bonus on July 1, but will also see his modified no-trade clause kick in. That clause blocks deals to ten teams around the league, and if he hasn’t already submitted the list he could very well use the rumored interest to give himself even more leverage. The two sides are apparently working together on a deal after the request, but Zaitsev could control his fate a little more if a deal isn’t done in the next few weeks.

Vancouver Canucks “Checked In” On Nikita Zaitsev

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The Vancouver Canucks were recently linked to pending free agent defensemen Tyler Myers and Jake Gardiner, but have also been rumored to be interested in a trade to address their blue line. That idea popped up again today when Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet tweeted the Canucks are “busy working [the] phones” on the trade market. Dhaliwal specifically notes that the team has inquired on Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, who is apparently generating plenty of interest.

Zaitsev recently requested a trade from the Maple Leafs for personal reasons, something the GM Kyle Dubas is trying to facilitate. The 27-year old defenseman has five years left on his current deal however, which has made some speculate that Toronto may have to sweeten any deal to get him out of town. Zaitsev’s contract carries a $4.5MM cap hit, an amount that the Maple Leafs could certainly do without as they try to re-sign restricted free agents Mitch Marner, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson, or even find some way to fit Gardiner back into the fold.

For the Canucks though, the cap situation is in a very different place. Vancouver currently projects to have more than $30MM in cap space (via CapFriendly), with twenty players already on the roster. That’s an incredible amount of room for the team even if some of it is about to be snapped up by a new Brock Boeser contract, among other restricted free agents. Spending $4.5MM on Zaitsev would hardly make a dent, even though he would immediately become their highest-paid defender—pending a new deal for Alexander Edler, who is a free agent and even though there has been positive talks between the two sides, nothing is done yet.

It would also provide some stability on the right side for the Canucks, who may find themselves in a situation where they need to trade Chris Tanev this season. The veteran defenseman is on the final year of his deal and has been unable to stay healthy throughout his career. While he is an excellent shutdown option when on the ice, the team just hasn’t been able to rely on him to that point. If Tanev doesn’t get an extension, he would become an excellent trade deadline asset for the Canucks if he was healthy at that point in the season. Behind Tanev and the younger Troy Stecher, there isn’t a ton of proven right-handed options in Vancouver.

Still, checking in on a player certainly doesn’t mean something is going to get done. Zaitsev’s deal comes with plenty of risk, and the Canucks may feel like they can address their defensive issues in other ways. What it does signal is that they aren’t going to be waiting around this summer, and are willing to make a deal to improve the club for this season. With a young core led by Boeser, Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, it certainly makes sense to push a little harder to improve the squad this offseason.

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Poll: Where Will Nikita Zaitsev End Up?

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As the Toronto Raptors prepared to host the first NBA Finals game in franchise history, their hockey counterparts were making news of their own. Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas admitted that defenseman Nikita Zaitsev had requested a “fresh start” elsewhere, after Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet had broken the news a few hours earlier. Dubas wouldn’t commit to trading Zaitsev at all costs, but did tell reporters that he would try to find a landing spot if possible:

I met with Dan [Milstein, Zaitsev’s agent] here and I don’t want to get too much into the details, that’s up to Dan and Nikita on their end. That will be our goal, to try and find a fresh start for him, for his own personal and private reasons. I’ll leave that to Dan and Nikita to talk about. In the case of what it means for our team, it’s not any definitive type of, “he’s definitely not going to be back.” Especially as the year went on, especially as he was paired with [Jake] Muzzin, his value began to shine through a little bit more. His penalty killing, his right shot, he plays in our top four and he’s signed reasonably for a long time.

Already speculation has started on where Zaitsev could end up. Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun suggests that the Ottawa Senators could be a potential fit, given their need to add salary to reach the cap floor this season. The 27-year old defenseman has five years remaining on his current contract which carries a $4.5MM cap hit. That would immediately become the Senators’ most expensive contract among defensemen, though Cody Ceci’s impending deal would likely surpass it in terms of cap hit for next season. Interestingly, Zaitsev is owed a $3MM signing bonus on July 1, reducing the cost for a team like Ottawa even further.

There is also the obvious connection to the New York Islanders, where former Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello now runs the ship. Lamoriello was an integral part in recruiting Zaitsev in the first place, and was the one who signed him to the seven-year extension after just one season in the NHL. He obviously felt at one point that the Russian defenseman was worth investing in, and perhaps he still does.

There’s no indication yet though of where Dubas would be looking, or even what kind of return he’d be after. The Maple Leafs were already likely considering a move of Zaitsev given their cap constraints this summer, with new contracts due for Mitch Marner, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson. The smooth-skating defenseman is valuable to the team, especially given his handedness, but may be too expensive to hold on to anyway. That would also mean they can’t take a lot of salary back in any deal, unless Dubas and the rest of the front office plan on cutting cap dollars somewhere else.

So where will Zaitsev end up? Will any team even come forward with a legitimate offer? Cast your vote below and let us know what you think in the comments.

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