Let’s start with what we know for certain about the Nikita Zaitsev situation.



The most important thing to keep in mind here is he wants out. Full stop. It’s not the coach (he likes Mike Babcock) and it’s not his teammates, but a personal situation that has come up that has led them to this decision.



The reason that is important is Zaitsev has a 10-team no-trade clause that kicks in on his contract beginning July 1. Another wrinkle to that is he is owed a $3-million signing bonus on July 1.



If Zaitsev wanted to be selective about where was getting dealt, he could use that no-trade clause to block moves to undesirable locations. And he could make this trade process far more difficult for the Leafs front office.



My understanding is that will not happen. So the Leafs are not under time pressure here to trade him before July 1, for fear of the no-trade clause causing an issue.



Zaitsev then becomes more attractive to some...