Leafs open to dealing Mikheyev's rights

The Toronto Maple Leafs have informed teams they're open to trading the rights to pending unrestricted free agent Ilya Mikheyev, TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports.

Mikheyev, 27, is coming off a career-best season, in which he recorded 21 goals and 32 points. He added two goals and four points in seven playoff games.

The Leafs have informed teams they're open to trading the rights to pending UFA Ilya Mikheyev.

The cap-strapped Maple Leafs have a projected $6.4 million in cap space, per CapFriendly, with 18 players under contract for next season. 

Along with Mikheyev, goaltender Jack Campbell is also slated for unrestricted free agency. TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston reported last week that the Maple Leafs had not made an offer to either player.

"What stands out to me is that the Leafs seemingly haven’t reached out to make an offer yet," Johnston said of talks with Campbell and Mikheyev. "There’s ongoing dialogue and they’ve had discussions with the camps of those guys but no numbers exchanged, no real negotiation and this starts to feel like some guys we’ve seen walk out the door in the past when you look at Zach Hyman and Frederik Andersen in recent years.

"Keep in mind Mikheyev is looking to get $4-to-5 million on the open market and Campbell could even go north of that depending on where the goalie market goes on the 13th."

Mikheyev is coming off a two-year, $3.29 million deal with an average annual value of $1.6 million.

The Omsk, Russia native has 36 goals and 72 points in 146 career NHL games, all with Toronto.

Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas engaged in discussions with the Edmonton Oilers regarding Zach Hyman's rights last summer, but ultimately elected not to make a trade.

“We know what the value