Toronto Maple Leafs: Be Careful Trading for a Defensemen
It’s no secret, everyone knows the Toronto Maple Leafs need a defenseman and that they’re looking for one. These discussions have become more common lately with December nearly upon us.
The problem with these rumours are the players involved. They’re either not good enough to be an improvement on what the Toronto Maple Leafs have or would cost way too much. Let’s look at a few of them.
Darnell Nurse
Nick Kypreos was discussing the price of a theoretical trade between the Edmonton Oilers and the Maple Leafs. This trade in question is a one-for-one swap of Darnell Nurse for Mitch Marner.
On what planet would this be a good idea? Why on earth would the Leafs trade one of their big three and a local kid who got 61 points as a rookie for an unproven Darnell Nurse? The Leafs don’t need another left shot that can’t replace Rielly or Gardiner.
Nurse isn’t bad and has a bit of a mean streak, but giving up Mitch Marner for a player with 28 points in 138 career games is ridiculous. You don’t trade a star forward for that.
Erik Gudbranson
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The Leafs need a good, right shot defensemen and Gudbranson is not one of them. Sure, being mean and throwing hits is nice, but that doesn’t change the fact that Gudbranson is bad. Very bad.
Gudbranson is quite slow, has a career CF% of just 48.3 and this year is an incredibly bad 43.2. Be mean all you like, if your team gets shelled when you’re on the ice and you handle the puck like a grenade, you’re not helping. Besides, we already have Roman Polak for that.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Now here’s an interesting one. Ekman-Larsson is a really good defenseman. If Arizona is serious about trading him they could get a really good return.
That price just makes no sense for the Leafs to pay. Just like Nurse, OEL is a left shot (though he’s far better) and would cost way too much. Here’s a preview of a trade talk between Toronto and Arizona:
“I heard OEL is available. What are you looking for?”
“Give us one of Nylander or Marner, your first round pick, plus a good roster player or top prospect.”
“Get bent.”
OEL might be a nice addition, but not at that price. Even if Elliotte Friedman says so. He’s also more of a puck mover than a physical presence that the Leafs are apparently looking for.
So what then?
Other than a player like Chris Tanev (often injured but a perfect fit) or maybe Hjalmarsson (whom Arizona just acquired) there are few options. Getting a really good “defensive defensemen” will likely cost too much (like one of the big three) to be worth it. The Leafs have enough players for the bottom pairing already.
Ideally, one of JVR or Tyler Bozak plus a high pick or prospect is used to get a decent defenseman. Should that fail to be enough to improve Toronto’s defence, the best thing to do is be patient.
The current situation isn’t perfect, but being smart is much better than trading for a plug or overpaying for a star. Better to develop one of our prospects like Dermott or Liljegren into solid players if these current rumours hold any truth.