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Will the Maple Leafs have to move out a forward to bring in a bigger piece?
The Leafs Nation: Elliotte Friedman on if the Maple Leafs will look to move out a forward to create some cap flexibility.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Nick Alberga: “”We’ve seen a lot of line shuffling in the bottom-six lately, and maybe this is just me rethinking. Do you think the Leafs are quietly setting the table to potentially an (Pierre) Engvall or (Alex) Kerfoot going out the door to free up some money if they have to do something substantial here?”
Friemdan: “Yes I do think that’s a possibility. The one thing I think about is Dubas. He will do things like that. I don’t think he’s afraid of things like that.
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The one thing about Kerfoot in particular, and I have been told this several times, that don’t forget that (coach Sheldon) Keefe really trusts him. Keefe really trusts Kerfoot.
….
Right now as you show, he’s on the fourth line and what I think. This is my opinion. But I know that Keefe really trusts Kerfoot. I know he hasn’t scored as much as everybody would have hoped, but if you want him, he gets put out in situations that you don’t get put out in unless the coach believes you can do a job.
And I think, and I know the organization listens to Keefe on this kind of thing. They do trust their coach. They trust his opinion. My belief is, before they move on from Kerfoot, they have to convince Keefe there are other options.
I think they’d like Holmberg to be one of those guys. They were really hoping that Holmberg would be a player this year. Even though his faceoffs are a little bit of a struggle, he’s showing that he’s going to be something.
But in Kerfoot’s case in particular, I think they’re going to have to convince Keefe that he can’t do the job or someone can do the job better.