Elliotte Friedman Refutes His Own Reporting on the Toronto Maple Leafs Buyout Situation

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot to think about this offseason, and there is no denying that general manager Brad Treliving will have his work cut out for him.

Something that fans have been anticipating is potential buyouts. In fact, a report a couple of weeks ago from Elliotte Friedman suggested that the Leafs would seek to buy out players at the bottom of the lineup.

This included guys like David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, and even Ryan Reaves. Of course, this would all be in service of freeing up some cap space.

However, the trusted NHL insider is now presenting some new information. On '32 Thoughts,' Friedman posited that the Leafs may go in a different direction.

Simply put, Friedman doesn't foresee Treliving pursuing a buyout for any of his players. Kampf and Jarnkrok have cap hits under $2 million, and their contracts are only going to last another year or two. With that in mind, it doesn't make sense to buy out their deals and incur salary cap penalties.

As PuckPedia reports, buying out Kampf would save the team $1.4 million over two seasons. However, in the ensuing two seasons, they would have to put $360K on their books.

Meanwhile, Jarnkrok would save the team $500K this season, but it would cost them $260K in the following season. Needless to say, it feels like a buyout would be a mistake.

Free agency begins on July 1st, and we suspect Treliving will wait to make any big decisions. Until then, the speculation is only going to grow more rampant.