David Pagnotta says the Maple Leafs have been shopping Miles Wood, and Dakota Joshua's name is out there too.
The Leafs are in the middle of a rough stretch. They lost 5-2 to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night, their fifth straight defeat, and they sit 23rd in the NHL at 8-11-2.
Pagnotta said on Nov. 11 that Toronto has been trying to create additional cap space for next season. That's the whole point of the Wood and Joshua talk, and it comes from a team with John Chayka running the front office.
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Joshua is 30, a Dearborn native the Leafs drafted in the fifth round in 2014. He has 1 assist through 6 games this season, and he played 8:16 against Minnesota on Thursday.
Wood, 31, hasn't played at all. He's listed on injured reserve (undisclosed) and is expected to be out until at least Nov. 30, according to the latest injury report.
The money is the story here. Joshua carries a $3.25 million cap hit through 2027-28, and Wood's $2.5 million runs through 2028-29. Together that's a meaningful chunk of room for a team that wants flexibility.
Can the Maple Leafs actually move Miles Wood?
Not easily. A winger with no games played and an injury that keeps him out until at least Nov. 30 isn't something a contender picks up in a hurry. Teams want to see a player on the ice before they take on four more seasons of his contract.
Wood's name has been floating around already, too. We covered Miles Wood in a Dylan Larkin trade proposal just days ago, and that was only a mock deal, not a report of real talks.
Joshua is the easier piece to shop. He's a 6-foot-3 forward with 302 NHL games behind him and 50 career goals, and he's on the fourth line in practice terms if not on paper. But 0 goals this season doesn't help his price, and his deal still has another year to run.
Our view: if the Leafs are serious about next season's cap, they'll probably have to attach something to Wood to make it work, because waiting for him to return and rebuild value isn't a plan for a team losing this often.
Toronto hosts the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, Nov. 14, and Joshua's ice time will be worth watching.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
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