Insider Reveals What's Delaying Trade Activity for the Maple Leafs and the Rest of the NHL

The free agency market has had a quiet first couple of days as signings are still waiting to trickle in following one of the less chaotic signing period opens in years with less signings and less money being put to pen and paper this offseason.

Some major transactions have already taken place, such as Brock Boeser returning to the Vancouver Canucks and Vladislav Gavrikov signing a seven-year deal with the New York Rangers among the major signings made early in free agency, but some deals are still waiting to be signed, including the biggest one of all.

With Mitch Marner having been acquired by Vegas in a sign-and-trade before July 1st, the biggest free agent domino was Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers, a contract still waiting to fall.

As of right now, a deal for Ehlers a deal for Ehlers is still in the wait, but multiple reports indicate a deal appears likely to come as soon as today, with it looking as if today will be the day people hear officially on where Ehlers will be signing.

Despite Ehlers being one of the few major free agents still unsigned in what was already a less exciting pool of available players in comparison to prior years, Ehlers signing will have a major impact on the market and how any team that misses out on the Danish star will approach their own futures to make up for losing out on the big fish.

A report from Chris Johnston says that a deal for Ehlers would open up the trade market as teams look to add on offense with Ehlers the last major free agent left on the board.

Although there are still potential top-six options in the free agent market such as Jack Roslovic and Anthony Beauvillier, the best case scenario for a key forward may be in the trade market.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one team that could use the trade market to net a major asset to replace Mitch Marner, as the replacement for Marner being Matias Maccelli or Nicolas Roy seems highly dubious to think it's the plan for Toronto.

The Leafs do not appear to be frontrunners in any of the top free agents left on the table, and Toronto has indicated patience in acquiring players, making it more likely they gogo down the trade route rather than putting their eggs in what will likely be a quick moving free agent market for Beauvillier and Roslovic once Ehlers signs.

Toronto will continue to be focused on acquiring a top forward, although how they do so will depend on how or when the Ehlers signing and gets done, although they may begin to work quicker as multiple teams prepare to go hard at trade talks with the top free agents now gone off the board.