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.