The 2 Blue-Liners the Toronto Maple Leafs Should Trade For

The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to add at the trade deadline.

That is a foregone conclusion that can’t really be argued. Saying that the Toronto Maple Leafs will add at the deadline is like saying that Gritty is the best mascot in the history of the world, or that the new Vampire Weekend songs are the best songs ever released in the history of the world.

It’s pretty obvious stuff.

So how exactly should they approach the deadline and what should they do?

Toronto Maple Leafs at the Trade Deadline

The one player the Leafs should be going nuts to acquire is Radko Gudas.  Gudas is a 28 year old right handed defenseman with one year left on a very reasonable $3.5 million dollar per year contract.

He is exactly what the Leafs are missing: a right-handed shot with excellent defensive impacts.

The Flyers aren’t winning anything this year, and probably not next year either.  Gudas contract will expire before they’re any good, and so it makes sense that they’d want to move him now while the team acquiring him can get two playoffs out of him.

Since he doesn’t provide much offense, he won’t be too expensive to acquire.  Remember, while Colton Parayko is the dream, the Leafs don’t really need the offensive part of his game.

With Rielly and Gardiner (and I believe if given more of a role, Dermott) providing offense, a player like Gudas (still a good puck mover) might actually be preferable since a) he’s cheaper to acquire, and b) the parts that make Parayko better are superfluous on this Leafs team.

The Leafs Should go hard at Radko Gudas.  Pairing him with Travis Dermott on a shut-down pairing would be an excellent upgrade from what the Leafs have now.

Second Defenseman

With Gudas in the fold, the Leafs defense would be significantly better, but there is no reason to stop there.

Nick Jensen is a pending UFA who is right handed and 28 years old.  He currently plays on a Detroit team going nowhere.  He has a grand total of 11 points in 50 games, so he’s not going to cost very much.

A second round pick probably brings him into the fold, and what an upgrade he would be.  Along with Hjarlmarsson and Gudas, Nick Jensen is one of the best purely defensive defenseman in the NHL.

Don’t let the term confuse you – these aren’t useless hitters who get hemmed in their own zone a la Roman Polak. These are legitimate shot suppressing defensemen.

The Toronto Maple Leafs could bring in Nick Jensen and Radko Gudas for a very reasonable price, and their blue line would take a massive step forward.

With Ron Hainsey and Igor Ozhiganov off the team, the Leafs blue line would look significantly better.  The cost would allow the Leafs to keep their top prospects like Timothy Liljgren and Rasmus Sandin.

Hell, they might even pick up a couple late picks for Hainsey and Oziganov. Zaitsev, while expensive for a sixth Dman, is about 10 x the player most #6 defenseman are, so this would be an amazing upgrade all around.

You could probably get Gudas for a first, and Jensen for  a second.  This is beyond reasonable, and it fits in the cap.

Salary info from Capfrieindly.com