Report: Flames/Leafs swap was a four player deal
By Ryan Pike
4 years agoToronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons has seemingly shed some light on the scuttled trade between the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs. Per Simmons’ Sunday column, the Flames would have sent TJ Brodie and Mark Jankowski to the Leafs in exchange for Nazem Kadri and Connor Brown.
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston previously reported that the trade was reportedly a three-way deal. This proposed four player swap would’ve seen the Flames add roughly $300,000 in cap space – the Leafs would’ve only given themselves a tiny bit of cap breathing room while the cap-strapped Flames would’ve dug themselves a bigger hole, so presumably the third mystery team would’ve acted as a cap broker for the two clubs.
According to Simmons, the Flames engaged in a sales pitch to Kadri but it wouldn’t work out:
He was phoned by Flames’ general manager Brad Treliving. He was phoned by Flames’ coach Bill Peters. He was being sold on joining the Flames, but almost immediately, he said no and wouldn’t waive the no-movement part of his contract to go to Calgary along with Connor Brown in a deal that would have brought T.J. Brodie and Mark Jankowski to Toronto.
Instead, Brown was sent to Ottawa in a seven piece trade on July 1 while Kadri was traded to Colorado on that same date. Given what the Leafs were trying to accomplish this summer – open up cap space so they can re-sign restricted free agent Mitch Marner while still fielding a competitive hockey team – it’s hard to argue that the $8.4 million in space they opened up with the pair of trades didn’t serve their interests more than the proposed trade with the Flames.
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