Report Confirms Team Is Shopping Star Player's Contract, Presenting Leafs with Key Opportunity

With the news that the Maple Leaf are looking to beef up their lineup and bring in a solid top-six option to play alongside stars like Auston Matthews, there seems to be a laundry list of players who the team could go after.

Linked to former players Nazem Kadri and Jared McCann, they've also been heavily involved in rumors surrounding Blues star forward Jordan Kyrou.

While he's been the subject of trade talks for a few weeks, it seems the Leafs have checked in previous at least to gauge the interest.

Nothing materialized and as of now, Kyrou remains with the Blues. But according to NHL Insider Frank Seravalli, the Blues aren't committed to keeping him around and are still looking to shop him around:

The motivation to move that contract is not only to open up a significant amount of cap space but also give them a chance to focus around other names like Jake Neighbours, Robert Thomas and Dylan Holloway.

Kyrou makes $8.13-million until 2031, and for the Blues and GM Doug Armstrong, that might be too expensive to keep, especially if he can't replicate his 2024-25 season.

In 82 games with the Blues, Kyrou exploded for 36 goals and 70 points and has three straight seasons with 30+ goals; in 416 games he's recorded 332 points (150 goals, 182 assists) all with the Blues.

A couple of issues Toronto will run into is whether or not St. Louis is confident they can make a playoff push after a surprise berth this past season, and beyond that hurdle, there's the question of what can they even offer to compare to the level of Kyrou.

Unless the Blues wave the white flag before the season starts, you can expect Kyrou to be a huge part of the team, regardless of how expensive he is; you can't just dump a perennial 30-goal scorer with no backup plan.

So for now, while the Maple Leafs have their eyes on Jordan Kyrou, it doesn't seem like there's much fuel to the fire yet.

But Brad Treliving is known for having a surprise or two up his sleeve, and that could involve the Blues star forward after all.