The NHL is officially a week away from the NHL trade deadline. Leafs fans in seller mode rejoice. I’ve written before about selling high and selling low, and I thought this would be a good time to revisit that framework due to an expected flurry of trades to happen at some point in the next seven days. I’m not going to write about obvious players on the move like pending UFA Daniel Winnik, but let’s take a look at some players under the Leafs control who are on the block: Phil Kessel Sell Status: Low Thoughts: Kessel had 214 points in his last 212 regular...

A significant portion of modern hockey analytics revolves around Corsi (or SAT% as defined by the NHL), which is really nothing more than looking at which team takes more shot attempts. If you can out shoot your opponent, the theory is that it goes a long way to driving success in terms of out scoring your opponent and ultimately winning games. There is a lot of evidence to support the case that Corsi is a major component of on-ice success. While I believe many people put too much weight on Corsi statistics, I do accept that it is a major component...

Best day ever? Best day ever. The David Clarkson era ends, the Zach Sill era begins. Maple Leafs Projected Lines James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel Joffrey Lupul - Nazem Kadri - Richard Panik Leo Komarov - Olli Jokinen - David Clarkson Zach Sill - Peter Holland - David Booth Dion Phaneuf - Korbinian Holzer Morgan Rielly - Roman Polak Jake Gardiner - Stephane Robidas Jonathan Bernier James Reimer Scratched: Brandon Kozun, Petter Granberg Injured: Trevor Smith (lower body)

The Leafs have re-acquired defenceman TJ Brennan in exchange for forward Spencer Abbott. https://twitter.com/alexfan590/status/571059990909345793 The Leafs re-signed Abbott, a former free agent out of college, and let Brennan go last July, and have evidently decided to reverse their decision with this trade. After an All-Star AHL season with 69 points in 66 games (and 11 more points in 11 playoff games), a season which included his first NHL game as a callup, Abbott took a considerable step back this season and, turning 27 in a few months, doesn’t appear to have a future at the highest level. Reasonably skilled but undersized and not...

With the Daniel Winnik trade goes the Leafs' most consistent player of the past couple of months, as the Leafs get necessarily worse in the short term while fetching good value for their final major pending-UFA (Jokinen, Holzer and Booth could be moved, but if there's any value to be had is unknown). Roman Polak, with one year left on his contract, seems to be the most likely remaining candidate to be moved for value, while Tyler Bozak's name has been gaining steam as well, with Bob McKenzie reporting a possible New York Rangers connection yesterday. The Rangers don't ostensibly have the cap room,...

The Leafs receive Zach Sill, a 2nd round pick in 2016 and a 4th round pick in 2015. This is a handsome return for a depth forward and a late summer pickup out of the bargain bin. The second round pick is in 2016, meaning the Leafs are still without one in 2015, but now have two in 2016. The Leafs also retained half of Winnik's $1.3 million salary for the remainder of the season, which helped grease the wheels on the trade for Pittsburgh's cap but is next to meaningless as far as Leafs are concerned given it's a one-year contract. The one thing worth noting...

Watch as new Leaf Zach Sill relentlessly chirps Dion Phaneuf and stirs the waters against his now-teammates while mic'd up during a meeting with the Leafs in December of 2013.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZVmzH2wlt8

Bob McKenzie on TSN Drive: Winnik trade: Sill is obviously a component where the contact had to come back the other way. The Penguins not only needed the Leafs to eat half of Winnik’s salary for remainder of the deal -- it’s only rest of this season -- but they also needed them to take Sill, that’s how tight things are vis-a-vis the salary cap. Whether they want Sill or whether he was just an economic consideration remains to be seen; probably an economic consideration. Hey, two draft picks for a guy you signed in the summer for a...

Daniel Winnik spoke to Bryan Hayes about his time in Toronto and what he's looking forward to in Pittsburgh: First thing that comes to mind about the Pittsburgh Penguins: Chance to win the Stanley Cup. With Crosby and Malkin I think you’ve got a chance every single year. I’m looking forward to helping that cause. It used to be my job to try to shut them down. I don’t think I’ve done too good a job of it the past few years. It will be nice to help them score instead of trying to keep them off the scoresheet. Handling the rumours of...