<p>The <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/combinations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> are reportedly looking into using buyouts on forwards in the bottom half of their lineup.</p>
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<p>Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared the report on Friday’s edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, where he said this is part of a series of alterations the Leafs will be making to the lineup, given it won&#8217;t be the same as it was in Game 7 against the Florida Panthers.</p>
<p>&#8220;They will be different, there&#8217;s no question about that. They just lost an assistant coach,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I do think they are gonna contemplate buyouts at the bottom of the forward lineup. And I think they are gonna investigate everything they can to make their forward group better.&#8221;</p>
<p>The players who spent time in the Leafs&#8217; bottom-six who are currently under contract for next season and beyond are David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, Ryan Reaves, <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/max-domi-expensive-depth-tough-trade-toronto-maple-leafs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Max Domi</a>, Scott Laughton, and Bobby McMann. Of these six players, we can safely cross off the latter half of the group who would not be under consideration for a buyout as Laughton was one of the primary acquisitions at the deadline, McMann is fresh off a 20-goal campaign, and Domi was outstanding in the playoffs.</p>
<p>This means that the first three players listed would be more likely to be the players GM Brad Treliving would consider <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/buyouts-arent-great-option-consideration-toronto-maple-leafs-wanting-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using a buyout on</a>. They have either one one two years remaining on their respective contracts, and their roles have been reduced this past season under head coach Craig Berube. As a result, there likely isn&#8217;t a long-term place for either of them on the roster.</p>
<p>It theoretically makes sense that using a buyout would be worth considering, given the cap savings it would provide as well as freeing up a roster spot. The issue with the likes of Kampf and Jarnkrok is that they both have signing bonuses attached to their contracts, which essentially offsets the benefits of the cap savings because the bonus would be taken into account.</p>
<p>Kampf&#8217;s cap hit would only drop to $1.6 million for the next two seasons if the buyout were initiated this summer, which would only save the Leafs around $716K in cap space. Jarnkrok has a year left on his deal and buying him out would only save the Leafs around $516K due to his signing bonus. As for Reaves, his contract does not have any bonuses attached to it and that results in his buyout cap hit dropping to $450K for the next two seasons. This would free up $900K for the next campaign while the year after that would be a marginal amount relative to the cap space.</p>
<p>It is worth noting that there are two windows for teams to initiate their buyouts: the first begins 48 hours after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final and ends right before free agent frenzy, while the second is after settling an arbitration case with an RFA. If the Leafs do decide to go down this path, we won&#8217;t hear about it until no earlier than a few days after the rematch between the Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers has concluded.</p>
<p>Whether or not they initiate a buyout is a mystery at the time of filing, but Friedman&#8217;s report suggests they are at the very least considering it.</p>
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The <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/combinations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> are reportedly looking into using buyouts on forwards in the bottom half of their lineup.
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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared the report on Friday’s edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, where he said this is part of a series of alterations the Leafs will be making to the lineup, given it won't be the same as it was in Game 7 against the Florida Panthers.

"They will be different, there's no question about that. They just lost an assistant coach," he said. "I do think they are gonna contemplate buyouts at the bottom of the forward lineup. And I think they are gonna investigate everything they can to make their forward group better."

The players who spent time in the Leafs' bottom-six who are currently under contract for next season and beyond are David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, Ryan Reaves, <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/max-domi-expensive-depth-tough-trade-toronto-maple-leafs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Max Domi</a>, Scott Laughton, and Bobby McMann. Of these six players, we can safely cross off the latter half of the group who would not be under consideration for a buyout as Laughton was one of the primary acquisitions at the deadline, McMann is fresh off a 20-goal campaign, and Domi was outstanding in the playoffs.

This means that the first three players listed would be more likely to be the players GM Brad Treliving would consider <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/buyouts-arent-great-option-consideration-toronto-maple-leafs-wanting-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">using a buyout on</a>. They have either one one two years remaining on their respective contracts, and their roles have been reduced this past season under head coach Craig Berube. As a result, there likely isn't a long-term place for either of them on the roster.

It theoretically makes sense that using a buyout would be worth considering, given the cap savings it would provide as well as freeing up a roster spot. The issue with the likes of Kampf and Jarnkrok is that they both have signing bonuses attached to their contracts, which essentially offsets the benefits of the cap savings because the bonus would be taken into account.

Kampf's cap hit would only drop to $1.6 million for the next two seasons if the buyout were initiated this summer, which would only save the Leafs around $716K in cap space. Jarnkrok has a year left on his deal and buying him out would only save the Leafs around $516K due to his signing bonus. As for Reaves, his contract does not have any bonuses attached to it and that results in his buyout cap hit dropping to $450K for the next two seasons. This would free up $900K for the next campaign while the year after that would be a marginal amount relative to the cap space.

It is worth noting that there are two windows for teams to initiate their buyouts: the first begins 48 hours after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final and ends right before free agent frenzy, while the second is after settling an arbitration case with an RFA. If the Leafs do decide to go down this path, we won't hear about it until no earlier than a few days after the rematch between the Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers has concluded.

Whether or not they initiate a buyout is a mystery at the time of filing, but Friedman's report suggests they are at the very least considering it.

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Report: Maple Leafs considering buyouts to the bottom of forward lineup

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