According to Sportsnet’s Elliote Friedman, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ilya Mikheyev requested a trade at the end of the 2020-21 season and it’s absolutely hilarious that the team won’t grant his wish.
Leverage is huge in negotiations, so it makes sense that the Toronto Maple Leafs won’t come out and say they want to trade Ilya Mikheyev, but at the same time, why not let him walk?
In 93 career NHL games, Mikheyev has been nothing short of OK. His speed is a key part to his game, but he has zero finish. If you watched every Leafs game last season, you’d understand the frustration that comes with his skillset. It felt like the Osmk, Russia native would get a breakaway every single night, but every time he did, he could never score when given the opportunity.
I can understand why the Leafs like him so much, but also don’t understand why they don’t want to trade him.
His $1.65M contract is a fair price and he’s shown that he can produce at a decent level when healthy. However, he’s not a top-six forward and should never be given that opportunity again. In five games against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the “Play-In Games” last year, he played in the top-six and had zero goals and zero points.
Fast-forward one year later against the Montreal Canadiens and Mikheyev went pointless once again. He was the only member of the Leafs that recorded zero points that played all seven games.
Nobody is asking or Mikheyev to score every night, but going pointless in 12 postseason games is a joke and he doesn’t deserve the ability to ask for a trade at this point in his career.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Should Trade 100 percent Mikheyev
If you look at the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, Mikheyev is the fourth or fifth best left-winger on the team. Nick Ritchie, Nick Robertson, Michael Bunting, Alex Kerfoot and Pierre Engvall are all arguably better options than him.
Mikheyev could play third-line right-wing instead, but he may get pushed down even further if Alex Kerfoot is still with the team when the season starts. David Kampf could slide to the right-side and Kerfoot could then centre the third line or vice versa.
Having depth is important, and his contract doesn’t hurt the team, but at this point it feels like he’s closer to becoming a healthy scratch, than he is an everyday player.
Personally, I think Mikheyev has been given more than enough of an opportunity to shine in the top-six with John Tavares and William Nylander and since he didn’t deliver when it mattered, he doesn’t deserve another chance.
He’s a replaceable player and the team could use the cap-space, so I say accept his wishes and move on from him before training camp starts.