Roundtable: Who Is the Toronto Maple Leafs Best Trade Chip?

My Take

I hate to say it, but William Nylander is the best trade chip the Toronto Maple Leafs hold in their hands. Nylander has a friendly contract, dollars worth, Nylander brings a lot of offensive talent to the ice considering for what he’s paid.

From a selling perspective, Nylander’s worth would be at it’s highest at the trade deadline, which could bring in assets to help the Toronto Maple Leafs build a contending team for the upcoming season.

His 27 goals on the season, ranking 16th in the league tied with Kane, easily makes him the most coveted offensive asset when made available at the deadline.

The potential return for Nylander makes a potential trade worth considering, a player such as Manson from the Anaheim Ducks would be instantly available. The dilemma, however, with a potential Nylander trade is that he’s not easily replaced.

Nylander brings the unique quality that he makes other players better, that’s something Toronto needs to cherish and think about before considering a trade. Remember what happened to the first powerplay unit when Nylander was moved there? Right, they became effective.

To move forward, the Toronto Maple Leafs might need to make a big move that could possibly see one of the big 4 shipped out, with Tavares and Matthews being untouchable that leaves Marner and Nylander, in which case Nylander would be the most attractive contract to trade for.

However, Dubas should keep in mind what he would be giving up when trading William Nylander.

Michael Mazzei

With the trade deadline looming, the Toronto Maple Leafs are surely considering their options on what moves to make and which pieces can be dealt with if that were to occur.

Should they decide to pull the trigger on another deal, their best asset to get that done is Kasperi Kapanen.

It would be a shame to lose a player like him, especially because of his versatility in the middle-six forward unit, but he is the most likely player on the Leafs roster to get dealt if it meant bringing in a defenceman in return.

There’s a good reason for that. At the time of writing this, Kapanen has 12 goals, 23 assists, and 35 points. He has been getting fairly regular minutes on the penalty kill, including two goals scored while down a man. Additionally, Kapanen has been on the second power-play unit with three assists so far.

All of this to say, a team that is lacking offensive firepower would be very much interested in acquiring a player such as Kapanen. And if Toronto’s desire is to shore up their blue line, then this is the piece that has to be moved in order for it to transpire.

Obviously, it would be in the Leafs’ best interest to hold onto Kapanen and there are no clear signs that he is truly on the trading block. Judging by the overtime winner he scored against the Arizona Coyotes, he’s making a case to give management a tougher time determining what to do with the 23-year-old.

However, if Toronto does indeed want to improve the backend, then they will have little choice but to move Kapanen. He is their best trade piece and the one that could the kind of return many fans have been clamouring for.

My take, again.

It might be unlikely the Toronto Maple Leafs will involve Nylander in a trade before the deadline, the profitable return might not be available to orchestrate a blockbuster trade Dubas would be looking for.

Not to mention that trading Nylander would be absolutely insane.

Meaning, for an effective trade before the deadline, Dubas needs to look for another trade chip, which could very likely be Alexander Kerfoot.

Playing his first season in Toronto after being acquired in the Nazem Kadri trade, Kerfoot has proven to be an excellent complementary depth piece, one that could be slotted easily in any line-up in the NHL.

He’s proven to be a reliable two-way centre for the third-line and brings the upside that he can on the left-wing as well. Signed through the 2022 – 2023 season on a friendly contract worth $3.500.00 annually, Kerfoot could bring a profitable return at the deadline.

Kerfoot could easily bring in a decent prospect with some draft picks or even land a first-round pick, which Dubas could use to make another trade to bring someone in.

With Spezza, Engvall, and even Gauthier, the Toronto Maple Leafs have replacements in the roster to replace Kerfoot at the centre.

Philip van Riesen

Who is Toronto’s best trade chip? When I take a look at the list of assets the Toronto Maple Leafs possess, the list of assets that would bring back a worthwhile return is pretty minuscule.

Which brings us to the players on the NHL roster that are not a part of the core. The only players that would fit this mould include, Engvall, Johnsson, Kapanen, Hyman, and Kerfoot.

To me, the player that could be the most valuable piece in trade is Kasperi Kapanen.

With Kapanen’s rocket-like speed, it would make sense for a lot of general managers to buy into him being a valuable player because of the flashiness in his game. So far, Kapanen has had a rough year and has not been an effective play-driver overall, he is not meeting the expectations of being able to outplay his matchups on the third line.

There are countless games where Kapanen is almost invisible, and even though on the contrary there are games where Kapanen looks like one of the best players on the ice, overall I fail to recognize if he is a positive contributor to the team.

This is exactly what makes Kapanen such a good trade chip because general managers will notice the games where he plays great and shake off the games where he is absent.

If Kapanen is as valuable as reported on the market, I think it is possible that the loss of him could be worth it, despite the fact that it will hurt to let a player who scores exciting goals as he does go.

D.J. Llewellyn

Out of all the pieces I see Dubas potentially moving, their best trade is Kasperi Kapanen.

While both he and Andreas Johnsson are wingers that have similar production level, which lies potentially around 20 goals and a total of 40 – 50 points a season, Kapanen can play up and down the lineup and he’s likely the guy other teams would want.

Kappy has the pedigree of being the son of a former NHL player and a 1st round pick. He scores big goals in big games (such as his gold medal winner at the WJC) and a ridiculous amount of speed teams notice.

He’s also a little younger than Johnsson which also might help his value a bit in the eyes of another General Manager. Ultimately, if the Leafs plan on trading for a decent defenseman, they will likely have to give a combination of assets with Kappy being the key piece.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot of wingers on the right side of their lineup. That makes Johnsson’s or Kerfoot’s ability to play left-wing or centre more valuable to the team.

Kappy is the guy I’d prefer to keep most out of the three, but if that’s what it takes to really help our blue line, that’s what it takes. The only question is how much value does Dubas himself see in Kapanen.

James Tanner

The best trade chip the Toronto Maple Leafs have is Timothy Liljegren.

LIljegren was really hyped up when he was drafted, but that seemed to go away once he was passed on the depth chart by Sandin.

That, however, speaks more to the brilliance of Sandin than it does about Liljegren, who is still considered a top NHL prospect with the potential to be a very good player, maybe more.

Liljegren was among the best defenseman in the AHL at an age when most players are unable to play in that league due to an agreement with the Canadian Junior league.

Normally I wouldn’t advice trading such a player, but if the Leafs are trading Tyson Barrie, it’s because they’ve decided they don’t want to lose Travis Dermott.

Assuming that Rielly, Muzzin, Holl, and Sandin are not going anywhere, one of Dermott or Barrie is the logical player to be replaced by the defenseman the Leafs are currently trying to acquire.

If that potential player had term, where would Liljegren play next year when Rielly, Muzzin, Holl, Dermott and Sandin all appear to already have jobs locked up?

Unless the Toronto Maple Leafs make a drastic move that renders this logical inapplicable, it seems to me that based on team need, and what he’d bring back, Timothy Liljegren is the team’s best trade chip.