Toronto Maple Leafs: Blues Trade Eliminates Pietrangelo to Leafs Option

It is the dream of many Toronto Maple Leafs fans to add Alex Pietrangelo to the team this off-season.

Pietrangelo is a perennial Norris contender, he’s right handed, and most likely will one day find himself in the Hall of Fame, so of course he would be a great fit on the Toronto Maple Leafs blue-line.  

For a multitude of reasons, Pietrangelo signing with the Leafs is an extreme longshot, despite the star blue-liner being from Toronto.  Those odds just got a lot longer with a trade the Blue just made.

In a swap of draft picks, the Canadiens just took Jake Allen and the final year of his $4.5 million dollar contract off the Blues’ hands, thus freeing up about half the money they will need to retain their captain.  It is a trade that makes absolutely no sense for Montreal, but for the Blues it is pretty much a homerun.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Alex Pietrangelo

Pietrangelo is a good, maybe even great, player.  He has been extremely consistent, putting up about 2.5 WAR each year over the last three.  Obviously he has a cup win, and he is right handed, but there is really no reason for the Leafs to be interested in acquiring him.

https://twitter.com/CanadiensMTL/status/1301191502517989376

Pietrangelo is 30 and as a UFA is going to get overpaid on a (most likely) terrible contract.  In order to afford him, the Leafs would have to move out other pieces, almost certainly Morgan Rielly, and it just wouldn’t be worthwhile.

Morgan Rielly was worth almost 4 WAR last year, and that is a level of excellence Pietrangelo hasn’t achieved over the last three years.  Given the respective ages, it would make no sense to part with Rielly in order to sign Pietrangelo. (WAR stats courtesy @jfresh).

Sure, the grass is always greener on the other side, but in the last three years, the only time Rielly hasn’t been at least as good as Pietrangelo overall is during this season when he was playing hurt.  Sure, Pietrangelo plays better defense, but Rielly’s superior offense makes up for a large portion of that, and in the NHL you don’t pay for defense anyways.

Pietrangelo is definitely better than Rielly defensively, but if you aren’t concerned with offensive ability (and with Rielly, Muzzin, Sandin, why would they be?) you can get someone equal to AP’s defense for a LOT cheaper.

Now don’t get me wrong, if the Toronto Maple Leafs do add Pietrangelo, I’d be excited.  But given the Leafs needs , this is a player that doesn’t make any sense due to the cost of acquisition.  But that’s largely irrelevant anyways because the guy is the Blues’ captain, his wife is from St. Louis and the team just cleared up half the space they need to sign him.

Alex Pietrangleo is not coming home, and that is a good thing because signing him is a fantasy and makes no sense for the Toronto Maple Leafs.