The Toronto Maple Leafs Shouldn’t Trade for Big Names This Summer

This offseason, there is likely to be some marquee names moved in the NHL. While it may seem like a good idea to acquire one, the Toronto Maple Leafs should steer clear.

There is always rumours circulating around the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Some have merit while most are either speculation or complete fabrications. With the team eliminated early from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, those rumours seem to have begun swirling almost immediately.

We will explore a number of different players and identify why each of them should not join the Leafs next season. We will begin with one of the most talented players on the planet, Jack Eichel.

Jack Eichel

Eichel’s displeasure with the Buffalo Sabres has been reported on ad nauseam. He is looking to move on from the team that drafted him just one spot behind Connor McDavid in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Eichel’s play can only be described as elite. Normally, his level of ability is the sort that all clubs want within their organization. He It seems ridiculous to write, but the Leafs need to avoid the temptations to bring this particular talent to Toronto.

In order for the Maple Leafs to acquire the 24 year old star, they would have to part ways with something very valuable to the team, perhaps their own 24 year old. Many are pointing to Mitch Marner as a potential return for the Sabres in a would-be trade.

With Marner earning an AAV of $10.903 M and having a disappointing showing in the playoffs, many Leafs fans are willing to part ways with the high producing winger. However, moving him for Eichel doesn’t make sense. That’s because Eichel’s neck injury makes him too risky an acquisition. Marner is still an incredibly valuable player even if he’s earning big money. To possibly trade him for a player who is currently rehabbing a herniated disk in his neck without knowing that he will ever return to 100-percent is too big a gamble.

In order for a trade to make sense for the Leafs, it won’t for the Sabres. Kevyn Adams, Buffalo’s general manager, isn’t just going to give away their star without getting a spectacular return. If Eichel wasn’t injured, things would be different but sadly, at this time, the Leafs must pass on Eichel.

Seth Jones

For those who don’t watch Columbus Blue Jackets games, you can be forgiven for not knowing that Seth Jones isn’t as good as many believe. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and at the time, was thought to be an up and coming dominant defender. Unfortunately for he and his teams, that never came to fruition.

That’s not to say that Jones wasn’t a serviceable NHL defenseman. He has been a top pairing player his entire career and logged big minutes. He was even an All-Star as recently as last season. However, significant minutes doesn’t necessarily mean they were well-played. The perfect example is the 25 minutes and 14 seconds Jones averaged this season. Those were played poorly.

The Leafs shouldn’t trade for Jones because he was bad this season. As can be seen in the charts above, his standing points above replacement (SPAR) and goals above replacement (GAR) both fell deep into the negatives. Simply saying that Jones wasn’t an All-Star caliber player this season understates the reality of how awful he really was.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs to make a move to acquire Jones, they would be expected to give up useful players, prospects and/or draft picks. Even if the Leafs were to buy low, they would almost certainly give up more to get Jones than they’d receive in value from his play.

At this point, trading for Jones is just trying to bring his marquee name into the organization. That’s not a good reason to bring a bad player to town.

Duncan Keith

In 2010 Duncan Keith lit the league on fire. He played lock down defense and put up 14 goals and 55 assists on his way to his first Stanley Cup Championship. That year he was also named to the NHL First All-Star Team, captured his first James Norris Memorial Trophy, and won a gold medal at the Olympics. Keith was once a player every team wished they had.

In his career, Keith went on to win a second Olympic gold, two more Stanley Cups, play in four All-Star Games, win another Norris Trophy and win the Conn Smythe Trophy. Sadly, Keith stopped collecting those accolades in 2017. While he’s been an important player for the Chicago Blackhawks and logged big minutes for them, he’s nowhere near the player he once was.

This is why Leafs fans need to pause before getting excited when they hear Keith’s named dropped as someone who could be on the trading block. Let’s not forget that he will be 38 years old.

While his age doesn’t disqualify him from being useful to the Toronto Maple Leafs, his contract does. Keith will be earning an AAV of $5,538,462 for this coming season and the one after it.

Even if the Leafs were to receive excellent compensation for taking on Keith’s contract, it’s just not worth eating up their valuable cap space for him.  Additionally, he’s just not good any more and would not even come close to providing a reason to block some of the Leafs younger players from having a chance to make the team.

Oliver-Ekman Larsson

If Duncan Keith’s $5,538,462 salary was enough to make you squirm thinking about adding it to the Toronto Maple Leafs cap, then there’s no telling what sort of reaction may occur from Oliver-Ekman Larsson’s contract. He is owed $50 M in total salary over the next six season with an eye popping AAV of $8.25 M.

To make that contract even less appealing is the no movement clause that the Arizona Coyotes and Larsson negotiated. As much as the Maple Leafs like collecting captains from around the league, they will certainly need to leave this one in the dessert. Last season, when Larsson’s name was being tossed about, it was reported that the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins were the only two teams the defenseman would waive his no-move for. Even if the Buds had interest (and they shouldn’t), this deal would be dead on arrival.

Matt Dumba

Matt Dumba will turn 27 this month and will continue to be a very serviceable NHL defenseman. He is expected to be traded because the Minnesota Wild are likely to lose him in the Seattle Kraken NHL Expansion Draft if they keep him on their roster. For Minnesota, moving Dumba early means they can recoup some assets instead of losing Dumba for nothing.

If the Toronto Maple Leafs put together a package for Dumba they would have two problems themselves. The first is the $6 M AAV he will have for the next two seasons. The other is that by trading for Dumba the Leafs would just be trading for the same problem the the Wild face. This would put Toronto in a position to not only give things up to Minnesota for Dumba, but they’d also have to send a desirable package to Seattle to keep their man.

Sam Reinhart

Of all the players on this list, Sam Reinhart may be the most realistic trade target. He will be a restricted free agent after having an outstanding season. With Eichel on the shelf, Reinhart stepped up for the the Sabres. He tallied 40 points in just 54 games from 25 goals and 15 assists. His possession metrics were also impressive. He had an even strength Corsi rating of 50.0 which is 4.6 percent better than his team.

It seems Reinhart is ready to move on from Buffalo, which makes sense because he likely doesn’t want to waste his prime playing years in a rebuild. The Sabres can command a fairly good package for Reinhart’s rights. Getting a 25 year old center at Reinhart’s skill level isn’t easy. A fair return for him from the Maple Leafs could be William Nylander, but that would be a terrible trade for the Leafs.

Nylander and Reinhart are both the same age and were both selected in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Reinhart went second overall while Nylander was taken by Toronto with the eighth pick. Both players’ production were also incredibly similar. However, even the most staunch believers that Nylander should be traded need to be cognizant of the circumstances surrounding Reinhart and why it’s not worth giving up a player as good as Nylander for him.

Being a restricted free agent means that Reinhart’s coming contract is unknown. What we do know is that he has arbitration rights. While one may believe the concern is the potential of a high AAV, it might actually be the term. There is a potential that Reinhart’s new contract could be for just one season. If that were to happen, the Leafs giving up Nylander or any other valuable asset(s) would turn out to be a big mistake. With that unknown looming, it’s just too risky to give the Sabres something to get a player that they essentially already have in Nylander, especially if it’s just for a single season of service.