Toronto Maple Leafs: 5 Free Agent Defensemen Targets

Since the ongoing pause to the NHL season started in March, the Toronto Maple Leafs season has been in question for a while.

With the news coming out this week that the NHL will be resuming with the playoffs, it’s time to start thinking about this Toronto Maple Leafs team again. Other than the playoffs, one thing that’s also bound to still happen is the offseason.

In a previous article, I wrote about the Toronto Maple Leafs top priorities for the offseason. One of them was the Leafs need to dip into the unrestricted free agency market this summer.

The Leafs have a number of holes needing to be filled this offseason, especially a top-four defenseman. On top of this, the Leafs have a couple of players who will surely be walking away as free agents, such as Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci.

The exits of these players will give the Leafs a little more cap space to try and make a move during free agency.

With that said, let’s take a look at five free agent defensemen that the Leafs could target this offseason, in hopes to fill those needed holes.

1. Alex Pietrangelo

Let’s get the expensive option out of the way first. It’s not a surprise that Alex Pietrangelo is on this list.

He’s the most coveted free agent defenseman this year. He’s right-handed, a Stanley Cup champion, an Ontario boy, and most importantly, a top-pairing defenseman for a contending team. He’d be the perfect choice for the Leafs, right?

If only it were that easy. Pietrangelo will be an expensive free agent pickup this summer, where he’ll possibly be asking for up to $9 or $10 million in AAV, if not more.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are already in a cap crunch, but with contracts coming off the books, as mentioned before, the Leafs may begin to have some wiggle room.

Regardless, the Leafs will still be a few millions short of reaching that high asking price that Pietrangelo will likely demand.

Whether or not the Leafs can afford him will ultimately be up to GM Kyle Dubas. I personally don’t think the Leafs can afford him nor should they even try to sign him, given their cap crunch, but if they can somehow come to terms on a more affordable deal, I wouldn’t say no.

2. Sami Vatanen

Now contrasting from the expensive, top-pairing option of Pietrangelo is Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Sami Vatanen.

Vatanen is definitely a cheaper option and is someone the Leafs can afford. He’s a right-handed, top four defenseman who can easily slot in on the Leafs second pairing, possibly alongside Travis Dermott.

The 28-year-old Vatanen had some injury troubles this season, but still managed to record 23 points in 48 games this season. While the Hurricanes acquired him at the deadline, we have yet to see how he plays with them truly during these upcoming playoffs. If he ends the season off strongly, he could be a player the Leafs target.

3. Chris Tanev

Chris Tanev is a name that’s been on Leafs fans’ minds for years. Although acquiring him would have been better years ago, those doors haven’t closed entirely yet.

The main thing that’s been holding Tanev’s effectiveness back in this league in recent years has been his struggles to stay healthy, only reaching 69 games played in a season twice in the last five seasons. However, he’s still a top-four defenseman, who’s right-handed and provides a whole lot of experience to a fairly inexperienced defensive core.

In Vancouver this season, he’s been playing top-four minutes, helping lead the Canucks to the playoffs.

However, their addition of Tyler Myers seems to indicate that they are ready to part ways with Tanev. It’s likely he won’t be demanding too high of a pay raise this summer, and if the Leafs can sign him to a short term contract, it would eliminate some of the risks associated with picking him up.

The Toronto Maple Leafs could use his services surely, and he could still possibly be a top-pairing defenseman alongside Morgan Rielly.

After all, they played together previously on the same pairing at the 2016 IIHF World Championships with Team Canada.

Despite that being four years ago, the combination of skill and experience may still be effective. Tanev should definitely be on the Leafs radar if other avenues don’t come to fruition.

4. T.J. Brodie

Here’s another player that’s been linked to the Leafs for a while.

T.J. Brodie initially was almost the player coming back in exchange for Nazem Kadri, before the team decided to ship him to Colorado for Tyson Barrie.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may have missed out on him there, but they have another opportunity this summer.

T.J. Brodie has been a defensive backbone for the Flames and will surely be looking for a pay raise this offseason. With a current cap hit of $4,650,400, his price may soar up to even $7 million, but that may be a gamble the Leafs are willing to take.

There’s only two issues here with the Leafs chasing after Brodie.

For one, Brodie is another left-handed defenseman when the Leafs would traditionally want  a right-handed defenseman. As well, as James Mirtle of the Athletic reported near the Trade Deadline, Brodie had listed the Leafs on his no-trade list.

This may mean coming to Toronto via free agency isn’t in his interests, but either way, the Leafs considered adding him once before, so he very well could still be a target for Toronto, if they can convince him.