Maple Leafs act on Nick Blankenburg PTO idea days after HockeyPatrol identified the fit

On Sept. 6, HockeyPatrol identified Nick Blankenburg as a great fit for a PTO signing, and less than a week later, the Maple Leafs are bringing him to training camp.

We touched on the potential of Toronto adding Blankenburg to the roster as a way to insure themselves against another potential Chris Tanev injury, and it seems like the Maple Leafs had the same amount of foresight.

Blankenburg added to Maple Leafs training camp on a PTO invite

According to the Boston Globe's Kevin Paul Dupont, Blankenburg is coming into camp with Dupont also believing this is to ensure the team has some help in case Tanev goes down:

Nick Blankenburg, defenseman, 28, Toronto: Undersized defenseman, ex- of UMichigan (from the Johnny Beecher days), played for both Colorado and Nashville last season. Small, but mobile, an insurance play by new GM John Chayka, looking for options if Chris Tanev still needs time to recover from March surgery to fix a core injury.

With Tanev still questionable for the start of camp, and therefore the start of the season, adding Blankenburg after his PTO would be a savvy move.

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Blankenburg, 28, had 24 points in 61 games with both Nashville and Colorado, while adding 59 blocks and 55 hits in 16:49 TOI. Toronto has had prior success with PTO invites before, as they added Steven Lorentz, Max Pacioretty, and Zach Aston-Reese over the past few seasons.

Toronto could certainly use Blankenburg, but need to find space first

The issue though is that Toronto not only doesn't have the salary cap space to sign Blankenburg, but they are also at their maximum contract allotment. Without moving one off the team, they can't sign anyone to a standard NHL contract.

The cap space issue isn't too hard knowing that it's highly likely the Maple Leafs will have Max Domi on the LTIR this season, and his relief will open up about $1M for the team to work with - enough to sign Blankenburg.

It's not just a matter of sending someone down to the minors, because that doesn't solve the contract situation and a trade or even a buyout will need to happen. We could see Toronto follow in the footsteps of the Anaheim Ducks and place someone like Philippe Myers on waivers for the purposes of termination, thus opening up that final spot for Blankenburg.

Without the flexibility of cap space and being able to sign players, Toronto needs to do a lot more work if they want to ensure they can sign Blankeburg off his PTO. With questions about Tanev's future, it's certainly a smart decision - it's just not as easy as it looks.

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