By what does that mean, I don’t mean who the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to protect – I mean how will it affect the trade market.
Say the Toronto Maple Leafs want to get rid of Tyler Bozak. Is a team really going to give up assets for a non-rental player they may not want to protect? Probably not.
That eliminates a lot of teams around the NHL that could be interested in acquiring a player like Bozak, with term remaining after the 2016-2017 season.
It also doesn’t help the Toronto Maple Leafs deal Joffrey Lupul, for the same reason as Bozak.