Nick Foligno
Nick Foligno would be a great addition to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and in my opinion trading for a package of him and David Savard would be the best thing they could do right now.
Foligno is a tough guy and he’s great defensively. Although the numbers this year are bad, for the previous three seasons he has been better than 91% of players in the league when it comes to defense.
Has he taken a jump off a cliff this year or are there explanations for the sudden decline? That’s what the Leafs pay their scouting and analytics departments for. I think it’s reasonable to assume that a 33 year old is in decline, but the question is how much ?
If he’s still the player he was for the last three seasons, he’d be an amazing addition to the Leafs third line and add a ton of checking and defensive ability to a squad that lacks such things. Foligno is a pending UFA so if Columbus retained some of his $5 million dollar salary it might be plausible.
A line of Foligno- Kerfoot – Mikheyev would give the Leafs an excellent shut-down line without having to sacrifice using Hyman in the top six.