Toronto Maple Leafs Roundtable: The Ideal Trade Deadline

Tim Chiasson’s Ideal Trade Deadline

My ideal trade deadline starts with at least one of Matt Hunwick or Roman Polak being traded. Judging by the deals we’ve seen so far – and history – we’re looking at a 3rd round pick. I’d take it and run.

The case with these two players is one of Mike Babcock’s few flaws. They need to be traded in order to be removed from the lineup. They don’t help the Leafs, they hurt the Leafs. This would give Marchenko and Marincin a regular chance. That is, of course, unless the Leafs make this next move:

Acquire Brendan Smith for San Jose’s 2nd Round pick.

The Leafs have three 2nd round picks this year, which means they can afford to get a rental like Brendan Smith who would be a great fit for the Leafs on the left side. Babcock seems to not enjoy having a better player (Marincin) on the ice than Hunwick, so maybe getting a familiar face would nudge him in the right direction.

So far we’ve gained a 3rd and lost a 2nd. Yes, they’ve picked up a rental which I’m not thrilled about doing but it’s for a good cause. A bad player is out of the lineup and a good player is in. All for the sake of around 20 draft spots, maybe.

We still haven’t seen the right side of the blue line or depth fixed yet. This is where James van Riemsdyk comes in.

I would attempt to fleece Anaheim by taking Josh Manson+ for JVR. Even straight up it’s probably a great deal for Toronto. This puts Toronto’s defensive group to Gardiner-Manson, Rielly-Zaitsev, Smith-Marchenko. Now we’re talking.

That’s three deals. It’s hard to imagine another happening if there are three already so we’re just going to continue to play whoever is the least worst option within the organization. Leivo takes a full-time gig with Marner (hopefully healthy) and Bozak and the remaining lines stay in tact.

I’d love to keep JVR, but if he can bring in a top pairing right shot defender, good riddance. He won’t be a Leaf after 2017-2018 anyway.

John Krpan’s Ideal Trade Deadline

To Ducks: JVR

To Leafs: Brandon Montour or Shea Theodore

To Any one: Ben Smith

To Leafs: Not even a bag of pucks, just a bag that used to have pucks in it

To Rangers: one of Hunlak

To Leafs: 2019 second rounder

Trade 1: The Ducks need a top line winger so we gift them JVR for the small price of Montour or Theodore.  Whomever the Leafs scouting staff likes more.  Okay okay, it’s not a small price but both players help each team instantly for a playoff run and neither are just rentals.

The Ducks get a top line winger for cheap and for another year and the Leafs get a young defenseman that could turn out better than anyone they currently have.  In the very least, it helps solidify their top four.  Both teams get better now and next year.

Trade 2: We just need to get rid of Ben Smith so Babcock isn’t tempted to use him.  Even Babcock knows Ben Smith is a better man than he is a player. We don’t need those guys taking spots away from a great guy that is also a better player. *whatever sound a goat makes*.

Trade 3: We can afford to lose one of Hunwick or Polak.  Rangers are looking for a right-handed D-man. Polak would fit here. Hunwick doesn’t, as he is a lefty but he was once on the Rangers and well… familiarity sometimes makes it feel safe.

Conclusion: We can sustain goal scoring without JVR, but need a good D-man (whether he plays now or not) to be able to do anything in the playoffs.  The ducks can afford to trade a D-man.

Ben Smith is a good AHLer.

If Theodore or Montour play for the Leafs right away, one of these guys would be sitting in the Press box anyway.

Matthew Rodrigopulle’s Ideal Trade Deadline

Honestly, my ideal Leafs trade deadline is one that’s pretty quiet. Now I have written quite a few articles about potential moves the Leafs could make for the final stretch of this season, but in my eyes the Leafs are in rebuild mode.

Although there are many speculations about trading away James Van Reimsdyk or William Nylander for a top four defenceman, I really don’t think it’s needed right now.

The Leafs should be sellers at the deadline, not buyers. We have exceeded expectations triumphantly this season, and that should only be a bonus to the fact that we are rebuilding and developing our young guns.

The Leafs really don’t need to go selling the farm simply to improve their playoff run this season. Be smart, sell expendable assets, and try to build for the future.

Ideally, pieces that I would like to see moved however are defencemen Roman Polak and Matt Hunwick.

They both have expiring contracts and they both have seen subpar play this season. Last season, Polak was able to fetch the Leafs two second-round picks from the San Jose Sharks. Any return that is similar to that could be hugely beneficial for the Leafs.

It also frees up room on the roster to bring up some younger defenceman eyeing a spot, like Alexey Marchenko, who played pretty well in his Leafs debut against the Rangers on Thursday.

Andrew Boehmer’s Ideal Trade Deadline

I am actually one of the few people that thinks the Toronto Maple Leafs should send William Nylander packing. I love Nylander, he’s an extremely valuable asset to the team and has played exceptionally well.

That’s just my point. He’s young and his stock is high, meaning his trade value in through the roof. A team looks for these kind of guys because, like I said, they’re young and are just at the beginning.

The grooming process will happen regardless of where the player plays. Someone may rebuttal by saying something like, “well, what about trading van Riemsdyk instead?” and my answer is simple.

JVR is in his prime and is veteran player on this extremely young team. His presence on and off the ice is needed and is instrumental to the success of the club going forward.

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Yes, his stock is high too but you have to weigh the fact that we need older guys on a roster to be those glue guys for the young guns, which the Leafs are in not in short supply of.

For example, if the Leafs decided to keep Willie (trading JVR or not), they would have three pretty hefty contracts to dish out to Matthews, Marner, and Nylander.

And that’s just those three. What about Brown, Hyman, possibly Zaitsev? Obviously they won’t be getting big contracts but they’ll still be worth a pretty penny.

I know the Leafs cap situation is pretty good right now, but we will be a contending team soon looking for ‘rental’ players around this time of year, and some might cost us. There’s always something else to consider like that.

Now, where would Nylander end up? Or, better yet, where do I see it worth while trading him too? I would try and get a deal done with the Anaheim Ducks for one of their young, NHL ready blue liners.

How about Shea Theodore or Brandon Montour (shoots right)? Both are elite prospects that should be playing in the NHL right now, but because of how deep the Ducks are with defensemen, they haven’t been able to establish themselves as regular NHL players.

The Ducks could use some offensive help, especially if they think they’re on the brink of being a Cup contending team now. Why not make a trade for an up-and-coming star such as William Nylander? It’s worth poking around a bit if you ask me.