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Kyle Clifford Hinting at Exit From Maple Leafs?

Did Kyle Clifford just hint that his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs might be over?Isn’t that what the Leafs were needing more of, not less?

We mentioned it when Max Domi did something similar. The reason? When players remove their associations on social media to their respective teams, it usually indicates some sort of development behind the scenes.

This time, the player who might have hinted his time with his current team is over, is Kyle Clifford.

Again, as we cautioned with Domi, it might mean nothing. But, that Clifford has removed the Maple Leafs from his social media bios could indicate that he’s been told the Maple Leafs don’t intend to re-sign him, or he’s decided to test free agency this offseason as an unrestricted free agent. If so, he’ll be leaving the Leafs and a $1.6 million salary ($800K from the Leafs) behind in the hopes that he can land with another roster and maybe get a bump in salary while doing so.

Clifford was excited to join the Leafs and this development is interesting because of his affinity for Toronto and the fact that the Maple Leafs could use players who can contribute and on near league minimum contracts. It wouldn’t make sense if Toronto is letting him go, only to try and find another player who can do what he does for $50K less.

Clifford brings some intangibles to the game that some will argue are a bit outdated. Others will argue they are critical, especially for a team like Toronto.

Tough and scrappy, he’s willing to fight, but more than that, he’s a physical presence on the ice that potentially gives other players more time and space to move around. He’s never going to produce a ton of points, but he’s not completely useless in that regard either.

One of the things to consider here is that a condition on the 2021 pick the Leafs would have to give as part of the Clifford trade from Los Angeles was determined by the Leafs re-signing Clifford OR whether or not the team made the playoffs and Campbell won six regular-season games in the process. That could be factoring in to why the Leafs might not extend him.

Related: Maple Leafs Have Talked to Andersen About Possible Trade

Early Reactions to the News Isn’t Positive

While Clifford won’t make or break the Maple Leafs’ season if he goes, the reactions to the speculation he’s signalling his time in Toronto is done isn’t sitting well with many in Leafs Nation.

Some have said he’s exactly the type of player Toronto needs as GM Kyle Dubas has built this team to be far too soft and one-dimensional. Dubas himself fought back against that stereotype to the media, arguing it isn’t true that he only knows how to build a team one way.

If he’s letting Clifford leave, fans will be closely watching who he tries to replace him with.

Next: Oilers Have Window of Opportunity to Land Jake DeBrusk

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Mike tt

    September 8, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    Clifford’s salary for 2019-2020 is not 850k! He just finished a 5 year 8 million deal, so his average salary was 1.6 million. When he came over from the Kings they retained some salary with Toronto paying the rest (a pro-rated 850k). As Toronto had close 0 cap space, the Kings had to retain salary (and thus cap hit) for Toronto to being able to fit him onto their team.

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