Once Leafs Nation — still processing the David Clarkson buyout disguised as a trade — finishes the task of retrieving its collective jaw from the floor, the question becomes “What’s next?”
Or, rather, “Who’s next?”
Tyler Bozak said Thursday night he expected trades to go down, especially with the unrestricted free agents — Daniel Winnik, Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli. But when a player with term and a salary most believe to be way too generous gets moved, well, this could be what the scorching of earth smells like.
So core forwards Bozak and Joffrey Lupul have joined sniper Phil Kessel and captain Dion Phaneuf in the trade rumour mill.
Asked point-blank if he believes he’ll be dealt before the March 2 trade deadline, Bozak let out a semi-laugh. Maybe at the boldness of the question; maybe out of nervousness.
“I have no idea. I don’t really look into it. I don’t read anything about it,” the centre said, after the Maple Leafs’ 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I’m just going to go out and play, and hopefully I stay here. But if things change, then I guess I’ll move on to that chapter in my life.”
The 28-year-old Bozak is no rental. Though sometimes lauded for his chemistry with roommate Kessel and his face-off abilities (51.3 per cent this season), Bozak carries a cap hit of $4.2 million for three more seasons. Too rich, say those who’ve compared his possession statistics to those of a younger, cheaper, penalty-drawing Nazem Kadri.
Ironically, the trade speculation around Bozak arrives as he is playing some of his better hockey. With a breakaway bullet Thursday night, Bozak scored his 17th of the year and is en route to his first 20-goal season.
But even with 10 multi-point games and six points in his last eight outings, Bozak ranks just 34th in scoring amongst the league’s centres.
That the Leafs did not retain any salary in the Clarkson deal is important. Because they’re already paying part of the freight for Carl Gunnarsson and Winnik, the Leafs are allowed to pick up part of the tab for just one more traded player.
Like Lupul, Bozak realizes anyone’s fair game to be moved.
“When you’re not getting wins and losing the majority of games, there’s stress and it’s tough,” Bozak said. “When you play like that, there’s going to be trades.”
Bozak called the trade of Clarkson, a player he considers “a good friend,” unfortunate, but there is an unmistakable sense of resignation in his voice that more dressing-room breakups loom.
“You guys don’t see how good of a teammate he is behind closed doors and in the room,” Bozak said. “He’s definitely a tough guy to lose, but I’m excited for him to get a fresh start over there.
“I’ve been here six years now, so I’ve seen a lot of guys come and go.”
Get ready to see more.
