Maple Leafs Expected to Deal Jared Cowen: Report

The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to move Jared Cowen before the end of today’s trade deadline, as first reported out by Sportsnet’s Damien Cox.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 230-pound defenseman was part of the multi-player trade that sent Dion Phaneuf and others to Ottawa on Feb. 9. Cowen was placed on waivers on Friday in anticipation of being moved. The left-handed defenseman played 37 games with the Senators and had four assists and was a plus-7 before being shipped to the Leafs. Cowen has yet to play a game for Toronto and it looks like he won’t if management has its way.

Cowen has a salary cap-hit of $2.15 million for both this and the 2016-17 season according to our friends at CapFriendly. He’ll become a restricted free agent at the end of that season. This move will help Toronto clear out some more cap space in order for a run at any big-name free agents.

Toronto also called up prospects William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Nikita Soshnikov, Kasperi Kapanen and Ben Smith earlier today.

It will be interesting to see how the Leafs juggle the recent call-ups with the Toronto Marlies in the midst of the American Hockey League playoff race.

RELATED: Leafs, Capitals Agree to Trade

Keep it locked on The Hockey Writers for all Trade Deadline coverage.