The Toronto Maple Leafs held steady at the trade deadline.
The Toronto Maple Leafs only made one minor move, to trade Par Lindholm for Nic Petan, and at the time it was pretty disappointing.
I was hoping that they’d be a little bit more “all in” and that they’d do more to give themselves the best chance to win possible.
Now that it’s been a couple weeks, and now that the emotions of the day are in the past, I thought it’d be fun to take a look back and see if my mind has been changed.
Toronto Maple Leafs on Deadline Day
One thing, I think, that gets lost in the shuffle, is the Jake Muzzin trade. The Leafs may have stood mostly pat on the actual last day of trades, but they did get their shopping done a month earlier. And, after all was finished, the Leafs arguably acquired the second best player out of all 31 teams.
Now, no one traded was better than Mark Stone, and that is just a fact. I’d put Muzzin ahead of the massively overrated Matt Duchene, but that’s just my opinion. What is not an opinion, but what is a fact, is that no team added a more significant piece for their blue line than the Leafs did.
The only problem is that Muzzin is a lefty, and not a righty. But honestly, I think we blow that way out of proportion. An out of position Muzzin is superior to any right handed defenseman the Leafs have, so really, who cares?
Since being acquired, Muzzin has been great. 51% possession, 49.5% shots-for, 55% goals for, and 52% scoring chances for. In all major statistical categories, other than shots for where he’s basically even, Muzzin has had a positive impact while on the ice. (naturalstattrick.com)
He’s also got 11 points in 20 games, which is a 40 point pace, which is fantastic.
His positive differentials are even more startling when you consider that his most common linemate is Nikita Zaitsev, and all Muzzin’s stats SKYROCKET when he gets on the ice with LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE.
If not for Babcock basically neutralizing him with Zaitsev, Muzzin would be giving the Leafs the physical, defensive defeseman everyone said they needed all along.
Also, this guy hits a ton. People keep saying the Leafs are soft, but they added a guy who eats a ton of minutes who is one of the best defenseman in the NHL who also happens to play a physical game.
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired him without touching their roster or two top prospects. While I would have liked to see the Leafs remove Hainsey or Zaitsev from their roster, that didn’t happen.
If I take away what I wanted to have happen, and just look at the facts – i.e that the Leafs got the best player available for the position they needed to upgrade, and that they were never going to be able to intentionally weaken their already weak right-side depth, no matter how bad the current two players are, then I have to give them an A+.
I was bored on trade deadline day and I wanted more action, but ultimately, between Muzzin and Petan, the Leafs added a ton of skill and cost control to their lineup without giving up hardly anything.
So not only does Kyle Dubas do credit to the Leafs when he is forced to address important subjects that the game ignores, but he also makes really, really good trades.
The Toronto Maple Leafs could not be in better hands. When all is said and done, they added one of the top players available, kept their system in tact, and avoided rolling their bonuses into next season when the Cap will be tougher to stay under. I feel like they could have taken some more risk and really went for it by adding at least one more right handed defender, but I also see the logic in their balancing act.
Overall, I’m impressed.