The Toronto Maple Leafs are back from the New Year, baby!
The regular season is now firmly out of the winter break, and the Editor in Leaf staff have been working around the clock to bring you, our loyal readers, right into the middle of the action. Every angle has been covered, and every stone has been overturned.
With so many stories hitting the wall all at once, it’s easy to lose a few in the shuffle. So, enjoy this roundup of this week’s notable pieces.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Jake Muzzin Trade is a Win From All Angles
I’m not sure if you heard, but the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Jake Muzzin from the Kings on Monday to finally gift themselves with the top-4 defenceman they’ve needed for, approximately, the past 800 years.
To make matters even better, they somehow avoided trading one of their top prospects to do it, giving up only Carl Grundstrom, the rights to Sean Durzi, and their 2019 first-round pick. By all accounts, this is a win. Kyle Dubas upgraded his D corps from the bottom half of the league to the top in one fell swoop and without forfeiting any roster pieces in the process. Accomplishing that was near unthinkable a month ago, and yet, here we are.
In his latest piece, Jarrett dives into the specifics of the Muzzin deal and how it serves to help the Leafs not only this year, but in the years to come.
“The Toronto Maple Leafs were forced to part with Sean Durzi, Carl Grundstrom and this year’s 1st round pick for Muzzin. Although Durzi is a right-handed defenseman with upside, and Carl Grundstrom looks to be a spitting image of former fan favourite Leo Komarov, neither would likely be considered top five prospects in the Leafs organization.
Kyle Dubas was able to trade for a top-pair defenseman without moving Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, Timothy Liljegren, Rasmus Sandin or Jeremy Bracco. Also, the draft pick that the Leafs traded will likely be in the bottom 5 selections of the first round, which is typically where draft pick values begin to plateau.”
Toronto Maple Leafs Now Have Best Top Pairing D in the NHL
Once again, James comes in with a scorcher.
Adding Muzzin not only makes sense from a financial perspective, but it also injects some much-needed life into what was a dwindling Leafs’ D corps prior to the All-Star break. Namely, these struggles were being felt most on the top pair, where Ron Hainsey had been playing out of his depth and on his off-side for the past year and a half. That obviously was not working.
But now, with Muzzin added to the mix, everything changes. Hainsey slides down to his most suitable spot on the third pairing, while Muzzin takes place beside Morgan Rielly on the first to give the Leafs, according to Corsica, the 8th best top pair in the NHL.
Or, according to James, the best. Read on to find out why.
“And make no mistake: Jake Muzzin is among the best defenseman in the NHL. He is probably the best possession driving defenseman in the NHL and he routinely also gets 40 points.
You can not oversell this upgrade.
For a long time, people have been trying to sell the idea that Ron Hainsey somehow lets Morgan Rielly be the player that he is. Nothing could be more insulting to the skill of Rielly, and nothing could be further from the truth.
This isn’t some argument where some people have varying opinions and anyone could be right. It is an objective fact that Ron Hainsey hurts Morgan Rielly.”
Toronto Maple Leafs: Mitch Marner and the Probability of an Offer Sheet
Here we go again.
One of the Leafs’ young superstars is in the midst of a career year playing on a legitimate Stanley Cup contender and the only topic of conversation surrounding him is how he might get offer sheeted during the summer. Do you see a problem with this? Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?
Look, if Mitch Marner indeed chooses to forgo a starring role on his hometown team in favour of what will likely be roughly $2-3 million more per year, that’s his choice. He can make it. An athlete’s earning potential is finite and it’s entirely Marner’s prerogative to get as much financial security for himself as humanly possible before his playing days are over.
But it’s also a choice he’ll have to live with. Maybe the Leafs can’t and don’t win a Cup without Marner. He’s terrifically talented and has displayed ridiculous chemistry with John Tavares.
On the other hand, though, maybe the Leafs can and will. How will Mitch feel about having had the chance to become a part of history and elevate himself to deity status before ultimately turning it down? Hopefully, we won’t ever have to cross that bridge.
In Wil’s latest piece, he breaks down how unlikely an offer sheet is for Marner and how it’s even more unlikely that he’ll sign one.
“There aren’t many teams with a roster so talented and exciting to play for as the Toronto Maple Leafs. Take that as your starting point, which teams remain?
The Winnipeg Jets, the Tampa Bay Lightning?
From those two teams, only the Jets have the projected cap space going into the 2019 – 2020 season with a projected cap space of $23,130,836. From that cap space, they need to resign Patrik Laine, Kyle Conner, and Jacob Trouba. That doesn’t leave much room, if any, to offer Mitch Marner sheet.”
Thanks for reading!