It seems even the addition of Mike Babcock can't bring the shine back to many of the talented pieces on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster.
Players like Phil Kessel, Dion Phaneuf, Tyler Bozak and Joffrey Lupul have been and continue to be available for trade, but it sounds like the NHL's 29 other franchises are well-aware of the Leafs desire to part ways with several of their more expensive pieces and simply aren't biting on trade scenarios.
"The market for Phil Kessel was thin and only marginally active," reports Steve Simmons of the Ottawa Sun.
"The market for Tyler Bozak, Kessel's center of choice, was non-existent. The Leafs did not receive a single phone call inquiring about Bozak's availability."
That's not great news for Leafs fans likely hopeful of ridding themselves of at least a couple of weighty and, at this point, wholly unnecessary contracts.
Kessel's name has been bandied about time and again - the Leafs were said to be talking trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins prior to and during the 2015 NHL Draft, but nothing, of course, came of it. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman indicated after the draft that the Pens and Leafs had "serious traction" on Kessel trade talks, but there was no word on what the potential compensation would have been.
Still, there's simply no doubting that Babcock won't be able to turn the Leafs around unless and until some of these hefty contracts are jettisoned. Unfortunately, that simply seems unlikely at this point.
"The 27-year-old Kessel has seven years remaining on his deal at $8-million annually. Phaneuf has six more years at $7-million annually, Lupul three more at $5.25 million and Bozak three more at $4.2 million. Toss in their various no-trade clauses and inconsistent play, along with the marginal increase in the salary cap, and it's not surprising there's little interest in them," writes Lyle Richardson of The Hockey News.
"Leafs management might find a trade for one of these guys this summer. Still, don't be surprised if all four are still in Toronto when the puck drops on a new season come October."
According to Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest, the Leafs and president Brendan Shanahan have notified at least one team - no word on whether that team was Pittsburgh - that they'd be willing to retain $2 million of Kessel's salary. Even that, apparently, wasn't enough to garner more than lukewarm interest in the talented scorer.
And as for Bozak, there's a "decent chance" he starts next season a member of the Maple Leafs, according to Friedman.
