It isn’t news to anyone now that the Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in adding to the team come the trade deadline.
Should the Toronto Maple Leafs add, however, acquiring players from Canadian teams due to the quarantine rules may be the route to go instead of waiting the two-week period after acquiring a player from the United States.
Through their first 21 games of the 2020-21 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs currently sit first in the North Division and first in the league with a 15-4-2 record (32 points) and have overall looked good thus far.
Let’s take a look and see some options from Canadian teams that the Leafs may be interested in.
3. Josh Leivo – 27 years old – LW
2020-21 stats – 17 GP – 0 G – 2 A – 2 PTS – 49.6 CF%
Career stats – 186 GP – 31 G – 36 A – 67 PTS – 52.5 CF%
Yes, this is the same Josh Leivo that used to be on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Actually, let me rephrase that, this is the same Josh Leivo that used to be on the Toronto Maple Leafs that never got an opportunity to crack the lineup because of someone in particular. Anyways, a Toronto and Josh Leivo reunion wouldn’t be that bad of an idea, especially as a very good depth option.
Although Leivo hasn’t had the ideal start to his season for the Calgary Flames as he currently has only two points in 17 games, he proved to everyone that he is capable of producing for your team, and that’s what he did when he got traded to Vancouver during the 2018-19 season. He put up a very respectable 18 points in 49 games in his first year there and then followed it up with 19 points in 36 games last season as a bottom-six player.
Leivo doesn’t play a ton of minutes, but when he is on the ice he is pretty effective as he can provide some offence and is pretty responsible defensively as well. Looking at his advanced analytics over the years while playing on Toronto, Vancouver, and now Calgary, they are pretty good for someone who is looked at as a bottom-six player.
Looking at this year alone on a Flames team that it seems that he’s played well but isn’t getting a lot of pucks to go into the net. He currently ranks 2nd on the team with a 2.84 xGF/60 and ranks 5th with a pretty good 2.08 xGA/60 but it seems like he just can’t score or even show up on the assist side of things.
Leivo is currently on a one-year deal that’s worth a very low $875K and would be very easy to trade for if you’re the Toronto Maple Leafs and would make as a very, very good depth option for them to consider, especially given the current injuries and some players not performing great as of late. (Stats from Hockey-Reference.com)