The Toronto Maples Leafs are the rarest of rarities in the 2015-16 NHL - a bona fide seller. When the NHL trade deadline passes in late February, the Leafs brass, led by president Brendan Shanahan, GM Lou Lamoriello and head coach Mike Babcock hope to have flipped as many of their value-carrying veterans for picks, prospects and any asset really that will help them build a perennial playoff contender sometime in the next few years. And while there are a handful of no-brainers like Roman Polak and Shawn Matthias, it sure sounds like a couple of guys with term left on their deals are squarely on the trade block as well.
Forward Daniel Winnik and frustratingly inconsistent goaltender Jonathan Bernier are both available, according to James Mirtle of The Globe And Mail.
Winnik signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal this offseason after departing Toronto last year ahead of the trade deadline. That deal, with Pittsburgh, landed the Leafs a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick. Winnik hasn't played particularly well this season, notching just 3 goals and 11 points in 43 games. He's also sporting a minus-2 and an ugly 44.1 Corsi For.
If the team does deal him, they're unlikely to see the same kind of return as last year, especially considering he's been hampered by an injury.
As for Bernier, the talented netminder has had about as bad a year as is humanly possible for a goalie at the professional level. He went his first 11 games without a win and managed a .883 save percentage in the process, though he has picked things up of late, going 6-4-0 since December.
Bernier won't fetch much as the Leafs would be selling especially low on a guy who was once viewed as the potential goalie of the future in Toronto. With James Reimer unsigned, it leaves a lot of questions in net for the Leafs.
