The All-Star game is over and the Toronto Maple Leafs get back to business next week.
With more than half the season finished, and with the trade deadline approaching, and the Toronto Maple Leafs being in 7th place overall, rumours are starting to become a fact of daily life.
Recently, the Leafs have been linked to the following players: Radko Gudas, Alex Pieterangelo, Colton Paryko, Gustav Nyquist, Wayne Simmonds and many, many more.
It seems like if there’s a player in the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs might go for him!!
Trade Deadline
The Toronto Maple Leafs needs are pretty obvious:
- They need an upgrade for Ron Hainsey on the top pairing.
- They need to further upgrade their right-side defense.
- They could use an upgrade over Marleau, or Guathier.
I wrote yesterday about acquiring Nick Jensen and Radko Gudas. Two right-handed defenseman with some of the biggest defensive impacts in the NHL. They’d be somewhat cheap to acquire and are both players the Leafs should doggedly pursue.
I’d love to see the fantasy acquisition of Dougie Hamilton or Colton Paryko, but given the cost of them vs the cost of Gudas or Jensen, and the fact that the Leafs are pretty set on the offensive side of the puck, I don’t think it’s worth it to pay the premium to acquire the superstar.
On forward, trading for Wayne Simmonds is a waste of time. He is in heavy decline, isn’t better than Patrick Marleau, and so he certainly won’t be taking ice time from Marner, Nylander, Hyman, Kapanen or Johnsson.
In fact, five of the Leafs six best wingers are so good that you can probably pretty easily live with Marleau as the worst winger in your top nine. If I was Dubas, I’d forgo Nyquist or Simmonds and look at players who can help the fourth line.
I like Moore and Ennis on the wings, and while Gauthier has surprised me by being an NHL player, I would prefer a centre with more upside.
I think the best option here would be Sam Gagner. He already plays for the Marlies,even though he’s Vancouver property, and wouldn’t cost too much to acquire. He’s extremely talented and probably should be in the NHL.
The rumours are flying, but I believe Dubas should hold onto his top prospects and trade some picks to get Gudas, Jensen and Ganger. It’s not as flashy as maybe people are hoping, but I believe those additions would make the Toronto Maple Leafs the best team in the NHL and set them up for a long playoff run.
Gudas would even have the added bonus of quieting down Baby Boomer Nation and adding some toughness to the team. While not strictly necessary, just the resulting silence from the Doug McLeans of the world would make me happy.