The Toronto Maple Leafs Should Trade for Bobby Ryan

#1. Trade for Bobby Ryan?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have limited cap-space but could they be movers and shakers at the NHL Trade Deadline this year? Over the past 10 years, the Leafs have been fortunate with their first-round picks, but the team is at a point where they could use them as assets moving forward.

As I’ve mentioned before, this is a Stanley Cup or bust type of season. If Toronto is near the top of the North Division by the NHL Trade Deadline, I think they should use their assets to make one more big splash to get this team over the edge.

As we’ve seen thus far, the team has depth but it kind of ends at Zach Hyman. The third-line has been used more as a shut-down trio that doesn’t have much scoring ability, and the same can be said about the fourth-line. The Leafs could use could really use one more winger to balance out the roster and make them deeper come playoff time.

When Thornton returns to the line-up, I’d like to see him continue to play with Matthews and Marner, but I’d much rather see Zach Hyman on the second-line, compared to Jimmy Vesey at this point. I don’t mind his game in short doses, but overall he’s a third or fourth line player.

This name may surprise you but one player who I think is going to garner a lot of buzz around the NHL Trade Deadline is Bobby Ryan. With four goals in five games, Ryan is red-hot for the Detroit Red Wings. Since that team is in a rebuild and Ryan is a pending UFA only making $1M, I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to flip him for a draft pick or prospect.

Ryan could be able to provide extra depth for the Leafs and even play power-play minutes at times. He’s not going to be the flashy 35-goal scorer that he used to be in Anaheim, but can be another veteran in the room to help this young Leafs team get over the edge.