Could Clarkson trade alter Maple Leafs' scorched-earth plans?

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As Toronto Maple Leafs brass began the process of stringing the explosives - finally set on detonating their failing roster - David Clarkson and his contract might as well have been a refuge for safety.

For Clarkson, and his $36.75-million deal paid out mostly in unalterable signing bonuses, he was a non-combustible entity, safe from a potential buyout and also the blaze set to rain down on the franchise.

Or so we thought. 

Dave Nonis (Brendan Shanahan?!) pulled off the unimaginable Thursday evening, trading Clarkson to the Columbus Blue Jackets for injured forward Nathan Horton. 

The move - nothing short of miraculous - essentially frees up every last dollar remaining on Clarkson's deal, with Horton on long-term injured reserve and expected to not play another NHL game because of a back injury.

And with this, all of a sudden, you must wonder: Will Toronto pull back on its destructive plans? Can this money be used to build around Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf properly? Can they do it right this time?

This, at very least, is a thought Toronto needs to consider now and into the summer, because Clarkson was always going to be part of the funereal future - until, in a stroke of wizardry, he wasn't.

In today's NHL, it's all about return on the dollar. And no one - certainly not Kessel, signed through 2021-11 or Phaneuf, signed through 2020-21 - was offering less for the piece of pie he was consuming than Clarkson. 

Maybe this unprecedented salary-cap flexibility keeps the Maple Leafs from imploding, maybe it's the perfect start to a blueprint rebuild.

Maybe - just maybe - it salvages the next half decade of Maple Leafs hockey.