The Toronto Maple Leafs have been linked to Mattias Ekholm for weeks and the price to acquire him has reportedly been revealed.
Every team in the NHL would love to have Ekholm, well maybe except the Nashville Predators. The left-handed shooting defenseman from Sweden is big and offensively talented, but he also comes with a reasonable cap-hit. It’s obvious why the Toronto Maple Leafs would be interested.
Currently making $3.75M until the end of 2021-22, Ekholm would be the fourth highest paid defenseman on the roster, if the Leafs were to acquire him.
So what exactly would it take for Toronto to get into the Ekholm sweepstakes?
Toronto Maple Leafs Linked to Mattias Ekholm
Well according to Elliote Fridman, the asking price from Nashville for Ekholm is a “first-round pick and two prospects.”
If you remember the Jake Muzzin trade a few years ago, that’s essentially the same package Nashville is supposedly looking for. If you’re the Leafs, you have to make that trade.
Obviously, the one issue that comes with any trade is the salary cap concerns.
Ekholm makes minimal money for a defenseman of his standard. He has 206 points in 559 career games and is an incredibly hard player to play against. At 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, he’s not the type of player that you’d want to see in the corner or in front of the net, come playoff time.
The rules get more loose in the playoffs and that’s where Ekholm shines. During the Predators Stanley Cup Finals berth in 2017, Ekholm was a beast. He had 11 points in 22 games, but led the team in penalty minutes with 38 PIMs.
Ekholm wasn’t afraid to play tough in the playoffs and that’s the type of defenseman the Leafs could use.
Jake Muzzin and Zach Bogosian are two defenseman that would cause opponents trouble in the playoffs, but adding another player like Ekholm would only be beneficial. No offence to Travis Dermott, but the Leafs don’t need him in the lineup to be successful and sliding him out of the top-six would only make this team stronger.
When the Leafs traded for Muzzin, they gave up the first-rounder, Carl Grundstrom and Sean Durzi. Grundstrom was an established prospect, while Durzi was still in development. If Nashville wants that same package, the Leafs would probably have to give up something like this:
Potential Trade No. 1:
- Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Mattias Ekholm
- Nashville Predators acquire: 2021 first-round pick, Timothy Liljegren and Mikhail Abramov
Potential Trade No. 2:
- Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Mattias Ekholm
- Nashville Predators acquire: 2021 first-round pick, Rodion Amirov and Nick Abruzzese
Potential Trade No. 3:
- Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Mattias Ekholm
- Nashville Predators acquire: 2021 first-round pick, Filip Hållander and Mac Hollowell
I think the Leafs would do everything in their power to keep Rasmus Sandin and Nick Robertson out of a trade package, as they’re the No. 1 and No. 2 prospects in the system. It’s possible that Nashville only does this deal if one of those two players are involved, but it feels like Leafs management values those two much higher than everyone else in the system.
It’ll be incredibly intriguing to see what Nashville does, but if the Leafs do decide to trade for him, expect a trade package similar to the one listed above.