A Low Cost Defense Option for the Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers are two teams that are very similar that will be both be looking to make some changes this off-season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers showed they were very similar teams this year in that they could score but not keep the puck out of their own net. The Leafs will have to make some strategic moves this summer to improve their defense without tearing their team apart.

The Panthers have a lot of money tied up in their defense and the new economic landscape of the NHL may be rough for a team that was already looking to cut costs, so they may be looking to offload someone in the likes of bringing in a cheaper player or calling up one of their prospects.

With the likes of Yandle, Matheson, Ekblad, and Stralman, the Panthers top-4 is pretty solid, and they have a player in MacKenzie Weegar that may be ready to take the next step as a top-4 defensemen.

What can MacKenzie Weegar bring to the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Not overwhelmingly big, standing at 6’0 and 200lbs, Weegar was selected 206th overall in the 7th round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. MacKenzie Weegar brings that old style of hockey that coaches love to have on a team. He gets under your skin, he can hit, drop the gloves, but most importantly he can defend. He also contributed with 7 goals and 18 points in 45 games this season.

Now, he was mostly deployed on the third line, so some may say that he was “sheltered” but that shouldn’t scare Dubas and co to make a move for him. Weegar had a CF% of 53.25 which is very good considering he was on a team that gave up a lot of goals.

Weegar is an RFA and will be in need of a new contract. His current deal had him at $1.6 mil a season. It will be interesting to see what he gets on his new deal, but I am expecting it to be anywhere from 2.5-3.5 mil a season.  The Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs have done deals in the past, the most recent being a trade for Malgin, and another for Hyman which looks bad for the Panthers now looking in retrospect.

A deal could potentially look something along these lines:

To TOR: Weegar

To FLA: Dermott, Bracco

Dermott is an RFA aswell so FLA will need to resign him but will be cheaper to sign than Weegar. Bracco has had a difficult breaking into the Toronto lineup and it may look like his ship has sailed and should be moved on from. Florida would get a bottom pairing d-man with upside and a cheap winger that has put up AHL points but is yet to have a chance to prove his worth in the NHL.

All in all, Weeger would be an excellent addition to the Leafs blueline, and they should make a worthy pursuit of him in the offseason.