32 Potential Trade Options for the Toronto Maple Leafs
By James Tanner
Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL Trade Deadline
The Toronto Maple Leafs got a had start on the trade deadline by moving Mikko Lehtonen to the Blue Jackets last Friday. The reigning KHL defenseman of the year is a potential NHL superstar, but given the lack of training camp and the shortened season, (plus their defensive depth and contender status) the Leafs just couldn’t break him into the lineup.
They did, however, solve a need by finally replacing Aaron Dell who they lost on waivers earlier in the year. Veini Vehvilainen is now the Leafs fourth string goalie, and he’s waiver proof. Meanwhile, if they want to, they can try to sign Lehtonen again in the offseason.
The Leafs – like all contenders before them – will be making moves leading up to the NHL Playoffs. They have a ton of assets (all their high draft picks, several top prospects) but what they don’t have is a lot of cap space.
That can be solved by paying a third team to retain salary, or by moving some salary out. Other than Freddie Andersen, however, there is no real obvious place to cut salary from. Still, you can accumulate cap space during the season, and you can get creative with regards to retention – say what you want about the Leafs, no one can argue that they are not masters of salary cap manipulation and management.
According to Elliotte Friedman, and common sense, the Leafs are looking for a defensively sound, hard to play against, puck possessing, top six forward. In this situation they likely push Kerfoot down to 3C and move Engvall, but trading Kerfoot is, I guess, an option (though I don’t see it happening).
The Leafs are said to have interest in Mattias Ekholm, so we know that they are interested in upgrading their blueline, and everyone who cares about this team knows an upgrade in net is at least plausible, and possibly their biggest concern.
The Toronto Maple Leafs could use an upgrade in the top six to replace Joe Thornton (he has good stats but is better utilized lower in the lineup at his age) or Kerfoot,(see above). They could use a new goalie, and on defense they could upgrade over Zach Bogosian, who brings a different look to the team but is actually pretty bad statistically.
Finally, Justin Holl is a great story, but there is probably an upgrade to be had there. The team wants to be great, not just very good and Holl may be better on the third pairing.