Toronto Maple Leafs: Connor Carrick Would Be A Fit With The Habs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are rumoured to be shopping Connor Carrick.

Yesterday, David Pagnotta, editor in chief of The Fourth Period had tweeted that he heard reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs are talking to teams about a potential trade involving Carrick.

Last season, Carrick appeared in 47 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He registered 4 goals, 8 assists, 15:08 ATOI, 53 blocks, 42 hits, 10 takeaways and a 52.6 Corsi-for percentage.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed that Mike Babcock doesn’t like Carrick. Last season, Babcock had alternated between Carrick and Roman Polak in the third defensive pairing. Babcock has also opted to utilize Carrick among the Toronto Marlies in the last few preseason games and limit his ice-time with the NHLers. In the preseason games that Babcock has chosen to go with his NHLers, he’s instead opted to dress Calle Rosen and Igor Ozhiganov.

Since Babcock prefers Rosen and Ozhiganov over Carrick, this has made Carrick expendable. Now, it’s up to Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs front office to find a new home for the 24-year-old native of Orland Park, Illinois.

Bienvenue à Montréal

If I were in Dubas’ shoes, the first team that I would call would be the Montréal Canadiens. With Shea Weber hurt for a while, the Canadiens only have two healthy right-handed defensemen for a few months. Plus, Canadiens defenseman, David Schlemko suffered an injury the other night, which might force Canadiens head coach, Claude Julien to put Karl Alzner back on the left side.

If Alzner moves back to the left side, that opens up a hole in their defensive core. So by adding Carrick, Bergevin could add a solid right-handed defenseman to their defensive core.

In addition, Marc Bergevin, general manager of the Canadiens might also be able to convince Dubas to add Calvin Pickard or Garret Sparks into the trade as well. It’s become increasingly clear that the Canadiens don’t have a solid backup goaltender. Antti Niemi and Charlie Lindgren haven’t been effective when called upon.

Perhaps, it’s time for a new backup in Montréal.

If I were Dubas, I would add Pickard into the trade instead of Sparks. I know that Sparks has had a rough preseason, but it might be a tad premature to give up on the 25-year-old goaltender from Elmhurst, Illinois. In the Calder Cup playoffs last year, Sparks proved that he can be highly effective when the pressure is on.

In addition, he was one of the best goaltenders in the AHL last year.

While his performance in the AHL may not translate into success in the NHL level, he could emerge as an outstanding NHL net-minder.

Even though Pickard could also blossom, Sparks proved to be a lot more effective last season for the Toronto Marlies. Dubas should give Sparks the benefit of the doubt and give him a chance to prove himself in the NHL. Worst case, he can send Sparks back down to the Marlies after some starts with the Maple Leafs. In exchange, Dubas can call up Curtis McElhinney, if he chose to send him down to the AHL prior.

Or he can go out and secure another goaltender by trade.

All-in-all, its evident that the Canadiens are a solid trade partner for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Even though Dubas won’t get a sizable return for both Carrick and Pickard, he’ll likely end up getting a mid-round draft pick. The draft pick could lead to something special in the future. Time will tell.

Thanks for reading!

stats from NHL.com and hockey-reference.com