Maple Leafs Report D Jake Muzzin Done For the Season

The Toronto Maple Leafs have released a statement noting that defenseman Jake Muzzin is going to be out of action for the remainder of this season, including the regular season and playoffs. The Maple Leafs will keep Muzzin on LTIR for the year, opening up over $4 million in cap space and the team could look to the trade market to find a replacement, assuming the team is willing to move the pieces required to land what they need.

Update on defenceman Jake Muzzin

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 22, 2023

Muzzin has been out of action for most of the season, having played in only four games with the team in 2022-23. NHL.com writes, “The club will provide a further update as to his status at training camp in September 2023.” Because this is a cervical spine injury, some believe this could be it for Muzzin and his NHL career might be over. If so, he had a great run.

What Will The Maple Leafs Do Now?

With $4.4 million in cap space and with the certainty that Muzzin won’t be back, GM Kyle Dubas does have the ability to go out and target someone for the blue line. From more expensive to less costly, there are plenty of names out there that might be of interest. The issue for Dubas is what he moves to complete a trade as he doesn’t have much left in terms of draft capital and he noted after trading for Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari that he did so, in part, because he could make the deal without moving prospects or roster players.

Is there a forward or a defenseman the Maple Leafs would move that would allow them to make an upgrade? There are just under 10 days left to find out if there’s a team willing to take on one of Dubas’ lesser players and a later draft pick to make a deal work.

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