3 Players the Toronto Maple Leafs should Trade For
By Joseph Zita
1. Tanner Pearson – 28 years old – LW
2020-21 stats – 23 GP – 5 G – 4 A – 9 PTS – 50.3 CF%
Career stats – 480 GP – 113 G – 111 A – 224 PTS – 52.7 CF%
Tanner Pearson is a player that I think would be a great fit on this Toronto Maple Leafs team for multiple reasons.. The Canucks are pretty much out of the playoff picture already, and I believe he’d be a perfect fit for the Leafs.
Pearson is a player that can easily slot into a teams’ top-six and can either play on the first line or the second line, depending on what the coach wants obviously. He brings a lot to his game when he plays, which includes his size, scoring, and the ability to go into the corners and isn’t afraid to go to the dirty areas on the ice, kind of like a Zach Hyman in that sense.
His advanced analytics this year on the Vancouver Canucks aren’t bad but they aren’t amazing either as he is on a Canucks team that has been struggling all year to keep the puck out of their net. He currently ranks 12th on the team with a 2.60 xGF/60 and ranks 9th with a 2.78 xGA/60, again, Vancouver has been struggling all year defensively so his numbers have taken a slight dive compared to recent seasons.
Looking at his actual numbers on the scoresheet, he’s been a player who has had multiple 40 point seasons throughout his career and he also won the 2014 Stanley Cup in his rookie season with the Los Angeles Kings where he was actually a key piece to the cup run scoring 12 points in 24 games, so there is another body in the locker room that knows what it takes to win it all and can be an extra voice as well.
Tanner Pearson’s also on the last year of his four-year deal carrying an AAV of $3.75M and that is pretty affordable in my opinion for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Next. Pros and Cons of the Canadian Division. dark
If Vancouver can retain some salary in the trade and then Toronto ships a roster player along with a prospect and maybe a pick to them, maybe it could get done. The only thing that is unknown right now is if Vancouver will make Pearson available for trade or not, but we will probably know sooner rather than later if they start racking up the wins, or start losing more games.