The Toronto Maple Leafs rumours so far this season have been a little blasé, if you want my opinion.
Ben Chiarot and John Klingberg are not players that set-off Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup fantasies in my head. I would be pretty amused if the Leafs traded for Klingberg, but I don’t think it would put the team over the top.
I think Chiarot would actively make them worse. The idea that the Leafs should pursue him is, in my in no way at all humble opinion, idiotic.
But yesterday I saw a pretty awesome trade rumour that did both.
Toronto Maple Leafs Should Be Looking into Claude Giroux
Claude Giroux is the NHL’s most underrated superstar. Since 2020, he is better than 95% of NHL players. He is an elite offensive player, and he’s an elite defensive player.
He is 34 years old and he has an expiring cap hit of $8.275 dollars.
You’d think that would rule out the Leafs, but I don’t think so.
$8.75 divided by 50% (which is what the Flyers would retain) is $4.375 and very much affordable.
Giroux can play the left wing, and give the Leafs a back-up centre option that is just ridiculous.
Claude Giroux from the Philadelphia Flyers has been amazing this season again. One of the most underrated players in the NHL. He really, really deserves a chance to win Stanley Cup. It's unreal how the Flyers wasted his time in Philadelphia.
— Andy & Rono (@ARHockeyStats) January 24, 2022
And I'll cry, I'm not ready for this. pic.twitter.com/YBQnrgCKzT
The problem with the Leafs current roster is that there is no way to upgrade it for the playoffs unless you go big. The type of typical tinkering at the edges that teams do at the trade deadline isn’t going to do anything when you’re wining 70% of the points available to you and are already healthy-scratching players like Travis Dermott, Kyle Clifford or Nick Ritchie.
Most name-brand left-wingers you could acquire (Marcus or Andreas Johnsson, maybe) are not really upgrades on what they currently have.
Giroux is.
Giroux would be like adding an older Mitch Marner to the team. A faster, better at defense version of John Tavares.
And if you’re going to do that, why stop there? Philadelphia also has Justin Braun, a huge, right-handed, physical player who happens to put up solid defensive numbers. He makes $1.8 million and also has an expiring contract.
The Trade
The Leafs send the Flyers Justin Holl, Nick Ritchie and Alex Kerfoot which is $7.125 million in cap money. In addition, the Leafs also send the Flyers top Prospect Rodion Amirov, a first rounder and a second rounder.
The Leafs get back Claude Giroux, retained at 50%, and Justin Braun, which is $5.938 million in cap money, giving the Leafs a savings of $1.19 million off their current salary cap spending.
For two expiring contracts, the Flyers would get a top prospect, two draft picks, and three players they could use or trade as they see fit. If that isn’t enough, throw in Nick Robertson or Rasmus Sandin. Who cares? Whichever team gets Giroux has the best chance of winning the cup, so just get it done.
The Toronto Maple Leafs would get the best roster in the NHL, and they’d add a player who would put them over the top. There is no question that if Claude Giroux is getting traded, that he’s the best player available.
It would be an expensive trade, but how many opportunities like this do teams ever get? There is never going to be a better combination of John Tavares, TJ Brodie, and Jake Muzzin staving off old age, combined with Nylander, Marner, Rielly and Matthews in their primes.
Tinkering at the edges, which is what the Leafs have done for the last several years, isn’t good enough. Giroux (and Braun) would make them nearly unstoppable.
It’s time to move all the chips into the centre of the table.