If the Maple Leafs Could Add 1 Player to Put Them Over the Top

What if the Toronto Maple Leafs could make just one move to put them over the top?

The most obvious need to me is to improve the leftwing side of the Toronto Maple Leafs forward lines.  No offense to Michaesl Bunting or Alex Kerfoot who have performed well so far this season, but the Leafs could use some star power on the left side.

There are a few players that could be viable options to pull this off, both rentals and longer term investments.

However, I’ll be honing in on one player who I think best fits the need the Leafs have: Filip Forsberg.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Filip Forsberg

First, Forsberg is a highly skilled two-way winger so he’d give the Maple Leafs a great companion to go on either of the team’s top two lines. He’s been great at producing points over the last three seasons with 1.95 Points per 60 minutes at five-on-five. (Per Evolving Hockey) Ahead of players like: John Tavares, Elias Lindholm, Taylor Hall, and Matthew Tkachuk.

He’s also ranked highly in terms of points per 60 minutes on the power-play, ranking ahead of players like: Jake Guentzel, Claude Giroux, and Mark Scheifele. So, with all this being said, I think a comparable deal that this could look like is the Max Pacioretty trade.

That trade saw Max Pacioretty sent to the Vegas Golden Knights for Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki, and a second round pick. However, I think it would look slightly different from a Leafs perspective. It would be much more advantageous for the Leafs to pony up a 1st rounder than it would be to give up a prospect on a similar level to a Nick Suzuki, given their cap constraints moving forward.

So, what would it look like to me? Here is my proposal:

Nashville Predators Trades: LW, Filip Forsberg (50% retained)

Toronto Maple Leafs Trades: 2022 first round pick 2023 fourth round pick F, Mikhail Abramov F, Alex Kerfoot

Explanation: Mikhail Abramov seems like a promising prospect that could be rated highly by some teams given his solid production in the QMJHL and serving as a captain in Victoriaville. You could also substitute a few different names here that might be more appealing to some.

The first, as I said, is better than trading a prospect like Robertson or Amirov who may be able to help while on their entry-level contract. The fourth round pick was added to help compensate for the cap hit that Nashville retained to make the deal go through. Alex Kerfoot helps give the Predators a roster player they can plug in while the Leafs are able to free up some cap flexibility beyond this year and for other potential deadline moves.

I believe this is the move that would put the Toronto Maple Leafs over the top.