The Alternate Trade Deadline Path for the Toronto Maple Leafs: Anze Kopitar

The Toronto Maple Leafs are Cup Contenders, looking to add a player to put them over the top.

The NHL Trade Deadline is on Monday, and fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs are anxious about what the team might do.

Since the team’s playoff position is precarious, and they have been inconsistent all year (owing to injuries, Mike Babcock and their goalies) there is some debate about what the team should do, but realistically, they’ve got to go for it. 

With injuries to Andreas Johnson and Cody Ceci, the Leafs should have the cap space to do whatever they want, and with a deep team (Agostino, Petan, Wilson, Aberg, Timashov, Korshkev are all capable NHL players who didn’t play last night) that is stacked with elite talent, they should definitely try to hit a grand-slam before Monday afternoon’s deadline.

But what if that grand-slam was a completely unexpected curve ball?

The Toronto Maple Leafs at the Trade Deadline

The NHL is a strong-link game.

That means that results are driven by star players.

You have to understand that in order to understand why the Leafs felt they could sink so much money into so few players – it just doesn’t make sense to pay mid-range players.

At the NHL level there is almost no discernible difference between the best non-star player in the league and any random replacement player.  Whether or not you actually agree with this is irrelevant – it is the philosophy behind the Toronto Maple Leafs roster construction.

Knowing this, we can understand why the Leafs didn’t feel it necessary to make a move for the likes of Alec Martinez, Brandon Dillon, or Dylan Demelo this week.

If they are going to make a move, it’s got to be significant.

To upgrade their defense, the Leafs need to make it worth moving on from either Tyson Barrie or Travis Dermott.  (Unless they use Rasmus Sandin as the foundation for a bringing in a superstar, but I doubt that).

If that proves impossible, trading for another elite forward might be an alternate path they could take.

An Alternate Path or the Toronto Maple Leafs

Everyone says they want a defenseman, and they probably do.  It is a fact, however, adding an elite player anywhere in the lineup would make them better.

A three win player is a three win player, whether or not he’s a defenseman or a forward.

Roster balance is heavily overrated in the NHL.  You can’t play your best players more than 20 or so minutes, so adding elite forwards who could potentially play on your third line is just as helpful.

What if, for instance, the Leafs traded for another elite centre, and just player him, Tavares and Matthews 20 minutes each every night? They could do away with their 4th line centre and dress seven D, each of whom would be more effective for having to play less.

Now Anze Kopitar probably has too many years at $10 million left on his contract, but he is ELITE and better yet, ELITE at Defense.  Imagine if the Leafs played in such a way that one of Matthews, Tavares or Kopitar was always on the ice?

It’s just an idea.  And maybe Kopitar isn’t ideal choice, but someone similar, where they available……. all I’m saying is the Toronto Maple Leafs have made unexpected moves in the past under this management group, and they might make an unexpected move before Monday.