Philip van Riesen
As the trade deadline approaches and constant talk about trades are discussed there is no better time to talk about the players that may not be the top names but will bring the top value to the roster when the expected price of acquiring is considered.
The player that I find that fits the mould the most is Dylan DeMelo of the Ottawa Senators.
DeMelo is 26-year-old right-shooting defensemen who plays in the top-4 for Ottawa, all while having an affordable cap hit of $900,000. This means the Leafs do not have to move a roster player to obtain him.
As I did outline that DeMelo played in the top-4, I have not mentioned that he plays in the top-4 and has been putting up impressive results both offensively and defensively. DeMelo is arguably the Senators most effective defensemen at 5v5 with his ability to help his team drive play when he is on the ice.
Even when accounting for context (QoT, QoC, Zone Starts, Score Effects…ect) DeMelo’s 5v5 game shows zero negatives to it, every player on the senators seems to put up better results with him on the ice, rather than off by a considerable amount. At lastwordonhockey, Alex Metzger goes into DeMelo in a little more detail here.
Given DeMelo does not put up very many points, which is a large indicator for defensemen’s market value, I suspect the asking price may be like that of the Nick Jensen trade last season. The comparable in terms of Leafs assets would amount to something like Bracco, Timashov and a 3rd round pick.
The last aspect of trading for Dylan DeMelo that I would like to outline is his contract does expire this upcoming offseason, but I fail to see a reason why the Leafs would not attempt to go in the route of signing him to a Nick Jensen alike contract (2.5M x 4) if he is up to it.
At such an affordable expected price, there is no reason for the Leafs management to kick tires on a highly effective defenseman such as DeMelo.