The 1st Big Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Rumour of the Year Is Here

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames could making a deal any second because trade rumors swirling around Sam Bennett are heating up.

According to Eklund of HockeyBuzz.com, the Flames and Leafs “were entering a second phase of talks and are further along than any other team in those talks.”

It’s no secret that Sam Bennett wants out of Calgary. Roughly one week ago, Bennett requested a trade and was even healthy scratched on Thursday night. Many speculated that a trade could be close, however nothing has happened yet.

Drafted fourth overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Bennett hasn’t quite lived up to his expectations. Currently in his seventh NHL season, he’s yet to score 20 goals or register more than 40 points in a single season. It doesn’t help his cause that players such as Nikolaj Ehlers, William Nylander and Dylan Larkin were all drafted after Bennett.

Heading into the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, there was buzz that Bennett could go first-overall, before ultimately falling to Calgary fourth. After scoring 36 goals and tallying 91 points in his draft year with the Kingston Frontenacs, his coach and former Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Doug Gilmour gave him a lot of praise.

“Five on five, he plays against all the best players all the time. He kills penalties. He hits. He blocks shots. He does it all,” said Gilmour (via: The Toronto Star)

Not only was he praised by his coach, but many scouts compared his game to Gilmour prior to getting drafted. In addition to Killer, scouts also paralleled his game to Gabriel Landeskog and Jonathan Toews for his speed and hockey smarts, according to Kevin McGran of The Toronto Star.

Leafs Have Interest in Trading For Sam Bennett

Bennett, who currently makes $2.55M, is scheduled to become an RFA after this season. However, he doesn’t have much leverage in that department, having not lived up to his potential. So, why would the Toronto Maple Leafs be interested in this player?

Well, Bennett is a local kid from a small-town roughly one hour north of Toronto and can play centre or wing. Not only that, but a change of scenery could be incredibly beneficial for him and the Leafs are looking for additional forward depth.

Although Bennett’s statistics haven’t been to the degree of a top-five overall draft pick, he’s still a pest to play against and someone who can provide great depth in your line-up. With injuries to Joe Thornton and Nick Robertson, Toronto has had to play Jimmy Vesey and Wayne Simmonds on the top two-lines at times, which is not ideal.

No offense to either of those players, but long-term, they are better suited in a bottom-six role. Conversely, Bennett is someone who has more than enough skill to jump in anywhere in the top-nine and be okay. He’s probably not going to provide much scoring, but he could bring some extra sandpaper which is great come playoff-time.

Personally, I think the Leafs have enough depth in-house, but if they’re going to make a trade, Bennett probably isn’t the answer. Either way this is an intriguing story to follow and it would be interesting to see what type of package the Flames would want for him.

Kyle Dubas isn’t afraid of making a splash, so don’t be surprised if this trade actually comes to fruition.