Countdown to TradeCentre: Could Leafs make 'a hockey deal?'

The NHL's Mar. 21 Trade Deadline is approaching and teams are making decisions on whether to buy, sell and decide which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Check out today's trade rumours and speculation from around the NHL beat. And follow TradeCentre on TSN and TSN.ca through Deadline Day for all the updates.

The Toronto Maple Leafs appeared to get some good news on the injury front Tuesday as Jake Muzzin took to the ice for their optional skate for the first time since suffering his second concussion in six weeks last month.

Muzzin's potential return, however, would end any talk of the Maple Leafs following the Tampa Bay Lightning's lead and using his LTIR status to spend over the salary cap before bringing the defenceman back for the playoffs.

TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston reports that keeping Muzzin and his $5.625 million cap hit sidelined has never been in Toronto's plans. He adds, though, that with the Maple Leafs up against the salary cap already, any deadline deal will require a contract to move off their books in order to bring one in.

"Yeah, certainly internally there are no indications the Leafs are operating in that manner," Johnston said of the Maple Leafs 'pulling a Kucherov.' "And really, Leafs management looks at Jake Muzzin returning to the ice as a positive step for his health as he recovers from his second successive concussion. And for the Leafs, that means they’re not going to use his LTIR space to acquire any extra cap hits at the deadline.

"Really right now the Leafs are looking at having about $500,000 that they could add in an annual cap hit that they could add at the deadline depending on what they do with some players before then. So it’s probably going to