Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Jake Muzzin In Blockbuster Trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs have finally made an overdue move to improve the back end.

It has been well documented for nearly two years now that the Toronto Maple Leafs needed to improve their defence in order to increase their odds at going deep in the playoffs. On Monday, Kyle Dubas finally pulled the trigger on a much-needed trade.

The Leafs acquired Jake Muzzin from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Carl Grundstrum, the rights to Sean Durzi, and Toronto’s 2019 first round pick. There was no salary retained in the deal.

Here are the details as per the Leafs Twitter page:

On the surface, this is a great trade for the Leafs as they did not have to deplete their farm system so extensively in order to add Muzzin into the fold. While the 2019 1st round pick is a steep price, it will likely be a late pick which doesn’t typically become anything special.

The fact that the Leafs were able to make this trade while keeping the likes of Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin, Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, and Jeremy Bracco makes it all the more spectacular.

There are other risks that are involved with this trade. Given that Muzzin has one-year left on his contract, the odds of Jake Gardiner being retained took a hit, especially combined with the impending extensions for both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. This is the price you have to pay in order to go deep in the playoffs.

While the consequences of this trade will not be felt until the summer, the immediate impact is obvious. Adding Muzzin to the Leafs improves their defence significantly and gives Mike Babcock more options with how he can sort out the pairings.

Muzzin comes with plenty of experience, including two Stanley Cups, and provides the Leafs with improved play in their own end. So far this season, Muzzin has 4 goals, 17 assists, and 21 points as per Hockey Reference.

Grundstrum and Durzi may have potential to become NHL players one day, the reality is that this move signifies that the Leafs have entered win-now mode. The former has the potential to be a bottom-six forward while the latter still needs time to develop. At the end of the day, these are players that have value for the future, which appears to be the direction the Kings are now heading.

Now that the move has been made, the Leafs will have another decision to make in the coming days. There is currently nine defenseman on the main roster currently, which means one of Martin Marincin or Justin Holl will either be sent back to the Marlies or packaged off in a minor trade (similar to Josh Leivo).

The expectations set on the Leafs for this season have dramatically increased in the blink of an eye. Regardless of what happens next, the rest of the season will no doubt be a fun ride.

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