Toronto Maple Leafs Hypothetical Trade: Aaron Ekblad

The Toronto Maple Leafs should be looking at the Florida Panthers to help upgrade their defense.

If you thought being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan was tough, just ask a Florida Panthers fan how they’re doing.  If you can find one.

Besides their miracle run to the Stanley Cup Finals in the 1995-96 season, the Panthers have accomplished absolutely nothing as a NHL franchise. They’ve only made it past the First Round of the playoffs once and have missed the playoffs in 21 of their first 26 years.

Despite having some really good pieces in Sergei Bobrovsky, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad, the team failed again this season. Even after hiring the best coach available (Joel Quenneville) and signing the best goaltender (Bobrovsky) the narrative didn’t change in Florida.

Bobrovsky should have a bounce-back season because he always improves after a down-year, but the Panthers should potentially look at shaking things up.  They are one of the NHL’s worst teams in terms of financial stability and their owners were rumoured to be cutting costs even before Covid changed the NHL’s landscape.

The Panthers finished seventh in the NHL in goals scored this season but that could change drastically next year as their two top goal-scorers (Mike Hoffman and Evgeny Dadonov) are UFA’s.

If Hoffman and Dadonov don’t re-sign, the Panthers will need scoring help and this trade below could benefit both the Panthers and Leafs.

Leafs Acquire Two Stud Defenseman From Florida

The trade:

• Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Aaron Ekblad ($7.5M) and Anton Stralman ($5.5M)
• Florida Panthers acquire: William Nylander ($6.9M), Alex Kerfoot ($3.5M) and Travis Dermott ($TBD)

If Toronto wants to improve the right-side of their defense, acquiring both Ekblad and Stralman solves that issue.

The top-six would now be: Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, Aaron Ekblad, Anton Stralman, Justin Holl and Rasmus Sandin/Mikko Lehtonen.

Ekblad is the exact defenseman that the Leafs should be looking for.  Not only is he 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and can contribute offensively, but he makes a reasonable $7.5 million per year until 2024-25 season.

Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas has always said he prefers trading for a player with term.  In addition to his offensive upside, he has a career Corsi percentage above 50, while averaging almost 23 minutes of ice-time per night. It’s tough to play in the NHL as a young defenseman but in six seasons, he’s improving steadily each season and would only get better playing in Toronto.

Stralman is another player who’s had a positive Corsi rating throughout his career. Originally drafted by the Leafs in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Stralman is a defensive defenseman which is much needed on the Leafs.

The Leafs could use a veteran defenseman like Stralman instead of relying heavily on young players like Travis Dermott and Rasmus Sandin to fill the void.

The one issue with this trade is obviously the amount of players you have to give up to get these defensemen. Ekblad is one of the best young d-men in the league, so a package for him will have to be rich and in order for the money to work, sending Nylander to Florida would have to happen.

Nylander would be a perfect fit in Florida, while Alex Kerfoot could fit in nicely as a secondary-scoring option as well. Also, with two defenseman coming in, the Leafs could sacrifice trading away Travis Dermott in this deal.

Although you’d have to give up Nylander in this trade, there’s more than enough scoring on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster to win every night, especially when an upgraded defense.

Would you rather have Nylander, Kerfoot and Dermott or Ekblad and Stralman?

Personally, I’d rather have Ekblad for five years at $7.5 million, compared to Nylander for four years at $6.9 million. Nylander could score 40 goals every year but he’s not going to help them stop pucks from going in the net.

It’s time to use their offensive assets and get a right-handed defenseman, or two.