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.