Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Push for a Josh Manson Trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs just suffered arguably their worst loss this season, losing to a 42-year-old zamboni-driving goaltender.

A lot of respect should be given to David Ayres, who came in as the emergency back-up goaltender when the Carolina Hurricanes lost both their goalies to injury in Saturday’s game. He might have had a storybook ending, but for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they lived through a nightmare.

Despite the loss, there’s still one bright side just around the corner for the Toronto Maple Leafs–the NHL Trade Deadline.

GM Kyle Dubas will be in a bit of a time crunch, but if one thing’s apparent, the Leafs need a shake-up in one way or another.

There’s no way the Toronto Maple Leafs go through Monday’s deadline without a major trade occurring. It’s becoming more evident that a message needs to be sent across the room if anything. And with the numerous trade rumours swirling the Leafs, it’s not like there aren’t any viable trade options.

One player that the Toronto Maple Leafs have been linked to for a long time is Anaheim Ducks defenseman Josh Manson.

Manson is a strong right-handed defenseman who has been one of the league’s most reliable defenders for the last few years. Anaheim is a rebuilding team who would be looking to sell off their assets this season. If one thing’s for sure after Saturday night’s game, the Leafs need to make a serious push to acquire Manson as soon as possible.

The Need of the Toronto Maple Leafs

It’s pretty obvious that a top-four right-handed defensive defenseman is what the Leafs need most.

With Morgan Rielly injured, their blue line is bruised and beaten up, limping its way to the playoffs in any way it can. On top of this, Tyson Barrie hasn’t been the player the Leafs expected him to be at all, leading to rising trade rumours.

On Saturday night, the Leafs allowed 47 shots against goaltender Frederik Andersen. Goaltending has been a big issue in Toronto this season, but when your defense allows that many shots, especially in a game where the opposing team is out a goaltender, there’s a major issue.

Josh Manson fits the Leafs’ needs perfectly, more than any other available defenseman. But it’s not as simple as just wanting him, the Ducks will have to agree to trading him away.

Now the main question everyone should be asking is, what would Manson cost the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Looking at the Ducks recent trade with the Boston Bruins, it’s apparent that they’re willing to sell, sending forward Ondrej Kase to Boston for David Backes (a huge cap dump for Boston), Axel Andersson and a 2020 first-round pick.

We know Anaheim’s interested in trading Manson, but they know what they have in him is special. As reported before, the Ducks only want to trade him for an offer that “blows them out of the water.”

While this could be the case, I don’t think Kyle Dubas has as much leeway as he once did when it comes to making this trade. The Leafs obviously shouldn’t overpay, but the need for Manson is far greater, that a slight overpayment might be warranted.

The trade suggestions have been thrown out there already, Kasperi Kapanen, Travis Dermott, Jeremy Bracco, maybe even Alexander Kerfoot, a pick or two. Not all these players would be used in a trade, but these are some of the Leafs best assets to acquire Manson.

The Ducks need young forwards, which Kapanen and Bracco fit perfectly. With the recent Barrie trade rumours as well, it’s looking like replacing Barrie with Manson is a very real possibility too.

Whether its a Barrie plus Kapanen deal, or Barrie for assets which can be packaged with Kapanen or Bracco in a separate trade situation, the Leafs should be looking to add Manson to the lineup as soon as possible.

The trade deadline is one day away and the Leafs cannot afford to miss the playoffs this season. Something needs to change and the addition of Manson might just be it. If you haven’t been fully sold on Manson yet, maybe this will help:

Until we hit the 3 p.m. deadline on Monday, Dubas will surely be working the phone lines. Let me know if you think the Leafs should consider acquiring Manson in the comments.