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5 Hometown Players the Toronto Maple Leafs Should Sign

By Stephen Nixon

SAN JOSE, CA - FEBRUARY 28: Martin Jones #31 and Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks defend the net against Zach Hyman #11 of the Toronto Maple Leafs at SAP Center on February 28, 2017 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA - FEBRUARY 28: Martin Jones #31 and Joe Thornton #19 of the San Jose Sharks defend the net against Zach Hyman #11 of the Toronto Maple Leafs at SAP Center on February 28, 2017 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – DECEMBER 23: Trevor Daley #83 of the Detroit Red Wings skating in his 1000th NHL game against Nazem Kadri #43 of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

#4. Trevor Daley

Dear, advanced analytics guru’s, please don’t look at Trevor Daley’s stats right now. You may throw up.

Over the past two seasons, Daley’s corsi rating was around 40 percent, which is putrid. You could say that it was terrible because he played on the Detroit Red Wings the past two seasons, but those numbers were one of the worst on the Wings.

Ouch.

So why should the Leafs sign this player and look past those awful stats? Well, they need defensive-depth and a player like Daley could help that cause. It was only a few short years ago that Daley’s possession numbers were much improved and he was a cornerstone on back-to-back Stanley Cup winning teams in Pittsburgh.

The Penguins and Leafs play a similar style of hockey and Daley could once again excel in Toronto’s system. As a puck-moving defenseman who’s an extremely gifted skater, Daley could be a solid third-pairing defenseman who could even play second-unit power-play minutes if needed.

A change of scenery from the worst team in the NHL to his hometown team could help him tremendously. At 36-years-old, he only has one or two years left in the league, so why not take a chance in Toronto and help out a few young defenseman along the way?

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