Lack of retained salary killed Leafs' shot at Zadorov trade: report

The Toronto Maple Leafs can only really blame themselves for missing out on the biggest defenceman of the early season trade market.

According to Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, Toronto didn’t quite have the cap space to make the deal work for Nikita Zadorov, who was flipped to Vancouver from Calgary yesterday in exchange for a 2026 third and a 2024 fifth-round draft pick.

“The Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the teams who had made Flames GM Craig Conroy an offer for Zadorov, sources tell Sportsnet, but cap-tight Toronto had requested that Calgary retain a portion of the rugged D-man’s $3.75 million salary,” Fox reported Thursday.

Zadorov is in the final year of his contract and scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency next summer should the Canucks be unable to sign him to an extension.

Zadorov had found his name in trade rumours over the last month after officially requesting a trade from the team through agent Dan Milstein on November 10. Though he had no shortage of suitors, Vancouver was able to make the deal after clearing out forward Anthony Beauvillier’s salary earlier in the week to the Chicago Blackhawks.

However, despite missing out on Zadorov, the Leafs still appear to be working the phone lines to improve their defensive group, which has seen John Klingberg, Mark Giordano, and Timothy Liljegren all sidelined with injuries.

“It was an area that we wanted to see if we could strengthen regardless,” Treliving said earlier this week about trading for a defenceman. “I think that’s your job all the time [to explore the trade market] because you’re trying to help your team now. The idea that you’re always just going to trade yourself out of issues isn’t realistic.”

The Leafs return to action Saturday night when they host the Boston Bruins. Puck drop is set for 4 pm PT/7 pm ET, with the game broadcast on CBC and Sportsnet.