Toronto Maple Leafs: Franchise Defencemen Don’t Get Traded

The most glaring need for this current Toronto Maple Leafs team is undoubtedly a minute-munching, preferably right-handed, top-four defenceman. That much is obvious.

Alas, going about adding such an elusive piece is not. At least not for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

So, with the trade deadline approaching, Twitter has essentially morphed itself into HF Boards, without the anonymity. Fans have spent weeks concocting a plethora of trade proposals they believe worthy enough to land Toronto their defensive saviour.

Frankly, it’s exhausting.

And yet, if you do take it upon yourself to sift through the mountain of hypotheticals, one aspect among them remains constant. They are all centred around a package consisting of a number of Toronto’s most promising prospects.

This needs to stop.

Yes, defence is absolutely the biggest need for this team. Although, sacrificing a strength to address a weakness is certainly not the way to go about it. Have we learned nothing from Edmonton?

I’d go as far as to say that these efforts are all being done in vain. Franchise defencemen simply cannot be acquired in a trade, especially not mid-season.

Don’t believe me? Hear me out.

Precedent

When was the last time any NHL team acquired their franchise defenceman via trade?

Among the group of number ones, Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Victor Hedman, Duncan Keith, and Roman Josi were all drafted by their respective teams, while Ryan Suter and Kevin Shattenkirk were free agent signings.

In fact, it seems the only way a team can pull of a trade of this magnitude is with significant assistance from monumental, earth-shaking circumstances.

Nashville was lucky enough to get P.K. Subban only because Montreal performed arguably the worst player assessment in recent memory.

But Mike, what about Brent Burns? Good question.

When the Sharks acquired Burns from the Minnesota Wild, he wasn’t even officially listed as a defenceman at all. In that case, would you want the Leafs to trade for an underachieving power forward while praying he could not only learn a brand new position on the fly but perform it at a superstar level as well?

Of course not.

In today’s NHL, this type of trade simply does not happen. And on the rare occasion when it does, it inevitably ends in failure. I say this while aggressively motioning towards Edmonton again.

As the famous saying goes; those who fail to learn from history will be doomed to repeat it. With that said, let’s take a gander at the last two teams who failed to heed those words.

Hall for Larsson

This trade is so thoroughly, unrelentingly terrible, it’s effectively transcended the genre into punchline status.

What Peter Chiarelli did on June 29th, 2016 will forever serve as the standard against which all bad trades will be measured. In an attempt to acquire his team’s “last piece” for contention (sound familiar?) Pistol Pete ended up dealing perennial All-Star winger Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson.

To this day, I still cannot believe that actually happened.

In doing so, Chiarelli committed one of hockey’s most deadly sins. He threw away a strength in order to address a weakness. Pete could have easily avoided this, had he just taken a second to apply simple logic.

If your car is in desperate need of a new muffler, and you trade your brakes for one, don’t be shocked when your car won’t stop. It’s really not that hard to grasp.

Alas, the current date reads January 16th, 2017, and here we sit. Larsson has 5 points in 38 games for the 29th place Oilers, while Hall is leading a playoff-bound Devils squad in both goals, assists and points, en route to another All-Star game appearance.

Anytime you deal your offensive superstar for someone with the points-per-game of a backup goalie, it’s probably not the best move.

Subban for Weber

With Hall for Larsson, there was, at the bare minimum, a smidge of logic to it. The Oilers felt they had an offensive surplus and attempted to shore up a deficiency with it. It’s stupid, but I can at least understand it.

This trade just flat out made no sense.

When the Canadiens traded Subban for Shea Weber, it was akin to trading an iPhone X for an iPhone 5. You’re basically getting the same thing in return, only an older, vastly inferior version.

By completing this trade, Montreal clearly felt they were in the position to “win now”. Weber was older although less expensive in the short term, and he possessed the necessary “grit and experience” to lead them to playoff glory.

Only, come playoff time, it was Subban who made the Cup Final, with Weber getting bounced in the first round. Fast forward to present day, and the Habs could not be further from “win now” territory.

Such is the risk with “win now” moves.

Sure, the Leafs could move Kasperi Kapanen in a package for a stalwart D. Just don’t complain when he performs wizardry like this for another team, while barely registering a blip on the cap.

This team is lucky enough to be in possession of a cupboard stuffed to the brim with incredible young assets. The last thing they should be doing is shipping them out for an older, more expensive one.

Next: Dermott and Gauthier Called Up

When in doubt, be better than Edmonton.