Toronto Maple Leafs: Carolina Is a Perfect Trade Partner

The Toronto Maple Leafs still remain locked in a battle with William Nylander.

If you’re a Toronto Maple Leafs fan and not living under a rock, you most likely know about the situation surrounding young star William Nylander and his contract. We are 14 games into the regular season and the Canadian-born Swede is currently sitting out of the lineup without a contract. And it’s at the point where fans are jumping on any sort of media coverage they can get their hands on.

From screenshots of Nylander liking his teammates posts on Instagram, to fake pictures of him turning up to training camp, to Kyle Dubas flying out to Switzerland to meet with him, fans are jumping on any sort of news that breaks.

Just a week ago, Nick Kypreos tweeted that while nothing was imminent, the Leafs and Nylander were getting closer to finding common ground between them. This obviously gave fans some hope that maybe, FINALLY, a deal was going to close. But those rumours have drifted away and as of now there’s nothing new to talk about.

What to do With Nylander

Kyle Dubas was quoted once saying that the Leafs would be able to keep all of Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews. At the time though, he probably wasn’t expecting Nylander to ask for eight million a season when the Leafs were prepared to offer him six.

Personally, I’m at the point right now where I really couldn’t care less with what happens with the Nylander situation. The whole debacle is just tiring to hear about and at this time I would rather just stop reading up on what could happen and start reading up on what happened. If the Leafs manage to sign him for a reasonable price, great! That means he steps into the lineup and bolsters their already-stacked offense. If the Leafs end up trading him, so be it.

Enter the Carolina Hurricanes.

In a whirlwind of rumours between teams like Carolina, the Los Angeles Kings, and the Philadelphia Flyers, the Hurricanes have popped up more than any other team. The Toronto Maple Leafs prime weakness is their defensive core, and the Hurricanes have a surplus of talented young defensemen. Coincidence?

Considering the fact that it’s November and it seems as though the Leafs haven’t made any progress with Nylander, it’s becoming more and more likely that a trade happens rather than a successful contract. With that, I’ve come up with a trade that would benefit both the Maple Leafs and the Hurricanes.

TO CAROLINA

RW William Nylander, D Ron Hainsey

TO TORONTO

D Brett Pesce, RW Julien Gauthier, 2019 First Round Pick

BREAKDOWN

Obviously not a lot of people are going to see eye to eye on how good Nylander is. I know people who say he’s as good as John Tavares, while other fans, angry that he is holding out, vastly underrate him.

But fact of the matter is, William Nylander is a very good hockey player.

In his two full seasons in the NHL, he’s posted 61 points each time. Those are elite numbers for somebody as young as he is. He’s done this mostly alongside of Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman, as well as next to Nazem Kadri and even on the fourth line at times. He’s also maintained a positive corsi for rating in his two full seasons rounding up to a career percentage of 52.6%. When you’re using the eye test, he’s arguably one of the most graceful skaters on the team and he’s an elite passer as well.

Keep in mind, also, that those point totals are suppressed when you take into account the fact that Nylander’s ice time (owing to the Leafs depth) is much lower than other players with comparable skills.

Led by Sebastian Aho, Michael Ferland, and Teuvo Teravainen, the Hurricanes aren’t necessarily struggling offensively. But William Nylander would give them a huge boost on the front end.

And in terms of Ron Hainsey, he’s pretty much just a throw-in for this proposal. He brings a veteran presence to the table and goes back to Carolina, where he spent a lot of his career already.

Now, here’s a little snippet on what the Leafs would be getting in terms of value.

Coming Back to Toronto

The Leafs have been doing alright without Nylander. Boasting a record of 9-5-0, they currently sit second place in the Atlantic division. While having Nylander in the lineup certainly could’ve helped them win a few more games, they don’t desperately need his presence, especially now that Kasperi Kapanen has put up 12 points in 14 games playing in Nylander’s spot. So why not use Nylander to fetch some defensive help as well as some prospect depth too?

Brett Pesce is a 23 year old defenseman who shoots right and stands at 6’3 and just over 200lbs. He put up 20 and 19 points in 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively, having missed 17 games last season. This year, so far, he has three points through 14 games. He maintained a possession rating of 54.0% last season and played the third most minutes of any Hurricanes defenseman, trailing only Jaccob Slavin and Justin Faulk. He’s a smooth skater and has an absolutely booming shot from the point. Should the Leafs deal Hainsey and acquire Pesce, he would likely take Hainsey’s spot on the top pairing alongside of Morgan Rielly.

Julien Gauthier was the Hurricanes’ first round pick back in 2016 and has a ceiling of a potential second line goal scorer on the right side. The 21 year old Quebec native stands at a hulking 6’4 and 225lbs and has drawn comparisons to Rick Nash in terms of the style of game he plays. He currently has six points through 11 games in the AHL and would provide the Toronto Maple Leafs with another top end forward prospect. The Hurricanes look like they could make the playoffs this season, so adding their first round pick would give the Leafs a second selection on day one, likely in the second half of the first round.

All in all, the Toronto Maple Leafs should be shooting for the stars and asking for a big return for William Nylander. Whether or not they get a return like the one I suggested is unknown, but they should definitely have their sights set on getting equal value in return should they decide to trade him.

All statistics obtained from eliteprospects.com and hockey-reference.com