Toronto Maple Leafs: Mackenzie Weeger Trade Rumour

Toronto Maple Leafs fans, take note.

With it becoming increasingly unlikely that the Toronto Maple Leafs will land a big free-agent like Alex Pietrangelo, let’s turn our attention to a couple of defensemen who have recently been put on the trade block.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports this morning that Florida Panthers RFA Mackenzie Weegar is available. He is a 26-year old right shot player who plays physical, is solid defensively, and yet doesn’t negatively impact offence.

In short, this guy is a younger, better version of what people think Radko Gudas is. Perhaps not as physical, but a much, much better overall player.   Contract expectations have Weegar at roughly $3.5 to $4 million, a four-year deal at that AAV would be a tremendous steal for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Mackenzie Weegar

With the rumors that ownership has ordered the Panthers management to shed upwards of $10 million in salary, Weegar can likely be acquired for cheap (a draft pick or Justin Holl). For the player he is currently and is expected to be over the next couple of seasons, that’s a deal you make without hesitation.

According to stats from Evolving-hockey.com and @jfresh, Weeger has been better than 89% of defenseman at 5v5 offense,  and 98% of defenseman at defense over the last 3 years, by Goals Above Replacement.  He was worth 2.6 Wins last year (and over 1 win in both prior seasons) and is a star player, essentially, just one without name-brand recognition.

In addition to Weegar, last night, news was broken by Andy Strickland of FOX Sports that David Savard of the Columbus Blue Jackets is also available as CBJ continues to shed salary.

Savard is a right shot, which is all the rage in Toronto right now, despite my feelings on how handedness doesn’t matter. He’s not exactly a physical player, but was a solid shut-down defender in his prime. He takes a majority of Columbus’ defensive zone starts and limits chances effectively. He’s currently 29 years old, with one year remaining on his contract with a 4.25 cap hit.

With some of the, frankly ridiculous, prices that players like Savard have been going for in the last couple of days, I don’t expect he would cost any more than a 5th round pick or a mid-range prospect.

My personal take on Savard is that he’s a guy you go for only as a backup plan, but I would still prefer acquiring him over signing a player like Radko Gudas. Yes, Gudas was a poor fit in Washington, and likely performs better elsewhere, but he’s also over 30 now, and his style of player has increasingly diminishing returns as they age, this one bad season he has just gone through could be the start of a drastic decline in his effectiveness.

Late-breaking news just before publishing states that the Leafs are working to acquire Weegar, he may already be a Leaf by the time you read this. This is only the start of a big offseason for the Maple Leafs, so sit back and enjoy.