James Mirtle of The Athletic: The Toronto Maple Leafs will continue to try and trade defenseman Nikita Zaitsev and meet his request. After July 1st he may be easier to move as a $3 million bonus will be paid out.
Aside from his contract, the list of teams that are interested may not be that big because of:
a) have a hole at right defence
b) have cap space to absorb the contract without giving a lot back
c) like Zaitsev in a top-four role?
The Leafs would like to get a right-handed defenseman in return for Zaitsev.