The trade deadline is just over 24 hours away, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to make a move. Their biggest needs are a third-line centre and a depth defenceman. Rivals in the Atlantic Division have already made moves. The Florida Panthers acquired Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks and depth goaltender Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks.
The Tampa Bay Lightning re-acquired Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand in a massive trade with the Seattle Kraken. Both the Maple Leafs’ probable first-round and/or second-round opponents clearly upgraded their respective teams.
Let’s take a look at some of the players the Maple Leafs have been linked to so far and what the two trade deadline philosophies the Maple Leafs are grappling with.
Brandon Tanev
Hockey insider Pierre LeBrun stated that the Kraken are willing to retain salary on Brandon Tanev’s $3.5M AAV contract. Having both Tanev brothers play together, like we had both Nylander brothers earlier in the season, is a fun idea. But what does Tanev bring?
From all accounts, Tanev isn’t exactly a playoff scorer. He has seven goals and seven assists for 14 points in 46 playoff games. What he does bring is a game similar to Noel Acciari a couple of years back. Relentless forecheck and hits everything that moves. He is also a fast skater, which would fit in well on the Maple Leafs’ fourth line with Steven Lorentz and some combination of David Kampf, Connor Dewar, or Calle Jarnkrok.
The cost to acquire Tanev shouldn’t be that much, though the Maple Leafs may have to move a roster player to make the salary cap work. If Tanev is acquired, the fourth line would be a nightmare to play against.
There were talks about adding a defender in a one-stop shop situation of Adam Larsson. However, the Kraken basically told the Maple Leafs to “lose [their] number”. Still, could another defenceman be involved from the Kraken, such as Jamie Oleksiak? Again, the Maple Leafs would have to send roster players the other way, or a third team would have to retain salary.
Scott Laughton
The Maple Leafs have been linked to Laughton for a while. Laughton would solve the Maple Leafs’ third-line centre issues. However, he does not seem to be a huge playoff point scorer. In Laughton’s career, he has six goals and four assists for 10 points in 24 playoff games.
Still, that’s not terrible for someone who slots in the bottom six of a lineup. His feisty, hard-working playstyle and ability to kill penalties are what’s attractive about Laughton. Come playoffs, this is exactly the skillset you want.
The other attraction with the Philadephia Flyers is a possible one-stop shop by adding in defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen. Ristolanien has a pretty high cap hit of $5.1M for another two years after this season. However, Ristolainen plays a physical game and would be an upgrade to the Maple Leafs bottom pairing.
The assets to acquire both Laughton and Ristolainen with retention, either by the Flyers or another team, would be pricey. But that’s what happens when you get to the trade deadline: you overpay and hope that it puts you over the top.
Brayden Schenn
The Maple Leafs have also been linked to Brayden Schenn. Schenn would solve the third-line centre issues for several years. Schenn also provides a strong two-way game and is physical. However, the price is astronomical. According to Chris Johnston and Jonas Siegel, it would involve:
A package of a first-round pick, a top prospect in Easton Cowan, Fraser Minten or Ben Danford, and perhaps prospect Nikita Grebenkin as well. The Leafs may have to throw in an additional sweetener for the Blues or another team to eat salary on Schenn’s contract.
I discuss in this post why the Maple Leafs should not pay the price. But for completion’s sake, I figured I would mention Schenn.
I touched upon this in the which roster players should the Maple Leafs move at the trade deadline, but there seems to be two pathways for Brad Treliving this trade deadline. Both these pathways are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Make a big, seismic trade that would shake up the team
The biggest issue that the Maple Leafs have faced in the last eight playoffs is not bad defence or goaltending; it’s that they can’t score. It is absurd to think about, given that the Maple Leafs spend more than 50% of their salary cap on four high-scoring forwards. I think this tells us that the core does not work, and the time to move on from one or more of the core pieces was after the Montreal or Columbus series debacle years ago.
Nevertheless, an example of a big “needle mover” would be acquiring Mikko Rantanen, in which the Carolina Hurricanes have gauged interest across the league. This would likely mean trading away key prospects like Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan, as well as our remaining draft picks and likely good roster players for cap purposes. Like every trade, there are pros and cons.
Rantanen is a proven playoff performer, scoring 34 goals and 67 assists for 101 points in 81 playoff games. However, Rantanen’s contract is done at the end of the year, and he is likely going to want a long-term contract that carries a $12-$14M AVV. This would, without a doubt, make the Maple Leafs much more competitive come playoffs at the expense of the future.
Make little moves and try again next year
This seems to be the direction that Treliving is moving towards. The Maple Leafs could quite easily add a third-line centre, a depth winger, and a depth defenceman for a playoff run. I can see why the Maple Leafs are turned off of pulling a big trade. Going by the Tampa and Seattle trade, and the rumoured asking prices on other players such as Brayden Schenn, the prices are incredibly high. Schenn is not the kind of impact player I would spend the farm on.
Still, this approach again puts the responsibility on the core players to produce when it counts, and they haven’t. Mitch Marner and John Tavares need new contracts at the end of the year, and there’s a chance that one or both might not be back. The salary cap is going up next year and for a few years after. Do you use the offseason to sign a Mikko Rantanen-type player?
Either way, the clock is ticking down, and it’s time for Treliving to make a move. For me personally, unless the rumours about Brandt Clarke being available are true, I wouldn’t spend the farm this year. I would wait and see how the team performs under Craig Berube, and then evaluate. This also allows Treliving to see if it’s worth extending Tavares and Marner after the playoffs.
What do you think Treliving should do? Do you like the players linked to the Maple Leafs? Or is there someone else you would like to see in the blue and white? Leave a comment below!
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