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Toronto Maple Leafs Roundtable: Trade Deadline Wishlist

By Mike Stephens

NEWARK, NJ - JANUARY 12: Radko Gudas #3 of the Philadelphia Flyers plays the puck against the New Jersey Devils during the game at Prudential Center on January 12, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - JANUARY 12: Radko Gudas #3 of the Philadelphia Flyers plays the puck against the New Jersey Devils during the game at Prudential Center on January 12, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 14: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Toronto Maple Leafs warms up prior to action against the Colorado Avalanche at Scotiabank Arena on January 14, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 14: Jake Gardiner #51 of the Toronto Maple Leafs warms up prior to action against the Colorado Avalanche at Scotiabank Arena on January 14, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Josh Tessler

So, I’ve thought about this for a while. What would be on my Toronto Maple Leafs wish list? Well, I’d love an extra 20 million dollars of cap space. Unfortunately, Gary Bettman isn’t going to be on board with that. So, let’s move to something more realistic.

At this point in the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a slump. Over their last ten games, they have a 3-7-0 record. That’s pretty bad given the talent that is on this roster. Throughout the last ten games, it’s been noticeable how bad the Jake Gardiner-Nikita Zaitsev pairing is.

While Gardiner is having a decent season, his line-mate Zaitsev is hurting him. In 48 games, Zaitsev owns a 48.4 CF% and has a 20:36 TOI/60. That’s not good. It’s time for a changing of the guard. I’d like to see Mike Babcock shift his defensive pairings and have Gardiner play with Travis Dermott. After that switch, Babcock could have Zaitsev play alongside fellow countryman Igor Ozhiganov.

I think that third defensive pairing wouldn’t be bad. Zaitsev and Ozhiganov wouldn’t have communication issues as both can speak Russian to each other. One of the issues of late has been Zaitsev’s communication skills, so perhaps playing alongside his fellow Russian will be a positive thing.

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