Maple Leafs Joffrey Lupul: Anatomy Of A Trade

Could the Bruins be the team that takes a chance on Joffrey Lupul? Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Who Wants Lupul?

Hypothetically, based on the earlier trades on the last slide, let’s say that the Leafs want one of the following packages in return for Lupul;

1) Roster player and two early round picks

2) Roster player and late 1st round pick

3) Equally bad contract swap and late round pick

4) Retain salary/Bad contract and get combo of early picks and mid-tier prospects

"“… Pittsburgh is in on this. It’s not easy for the Penguins, they are right at the cap, but they have some young pieces that would definitely interest Toronto, particularly on defense … Montreal, I wonder if they are back into it… [One team that would] need to clear some cap room to get it done is Boston. He fits what [those teams] need which is a winger who can play on their top two lines.” – Elliotte Friedman, Sportsnet 960"

Insiders have had Lupul linked to a variety of teams throughout the season and will continue to do so until the moment he is inevitably traded. He’s been linked to Pittsburgh (before the Perron deal), Montreal (apparently he vetoed a deal at the deadline), Boston (if the Leafs are serious about a long term rebuild, inner division trades don’t matter) and St.Louis (they made a pass at him at the deadline but the teams couldn’t come to an agreement).

To keep this feature manageable, we’ll cut out the Bruins as they have youngsters David Pastrnak, Reilly Smith traded for Brett Connolly at the deadline to shore up the team’s scoring winger issues. Then we’ll add the Florida and Columbus to the conversation as it is blatantly obvious that they both need a scoring boost, but probably don’t want to pay the cost to land a Kessel type of player. Finally, Dallas joins the list of suitors as they have a need for savvy veterans on the wings.

Next: Pittsburgh's Trade Offer