Should the Toronto Maple Leafs Trade for Available Blackhawks?
One of the most enticing trade partners for the Toronto Maple Leafs this year is the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs have a lot in common. Prior to winning their Stanley Cup in 2010, the Blackhawks were the longest reigning NHL team without a championship. Meanwhile, that title unfortunately now belongs to Toronto.
Similarly, during the Blackhawks dynasty, they were built around two superstars: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Toews was a leader and point producer, while Kane was the superstar talent. John Tavares or Auston Matthews would be a pretty similar player to Toews when it comes to leadership, while Marner has always been looked at as a younger Kane.
12 years removed from their first of three Stanley Cup’s, as Leafs fans, we can only hope that Toronto will have 1/3 of the success that Chicago has had over the past decade. Winning one championship is hard enough, but winning three is remarkable.
Chicago isn’t the same team they were a few years ago and are looking at a rebuild. Kane and Toews only have one year left on their contract, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens when their deal expires, but I’d assume they stay with the franchise for life.
They may want to play for another team and chase another ring, but their legacy in Chicago is already set. They’re legends in that city for life, and nobody is taking that away from them.
Although Kane and Toews aren’t going anywhere, the rest of the team is wide-open. From multiple reports, it is said that any other player is potentially available in trade discussions, so as a result, Toronto should be calling them everyday to see who’s available.
We’ll go through the forwards, defenseman and goaltenders, but here are the multiple players that the Toronto Maple Leafs should target:
No. 1: Forwards
Trade Targets: Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat and Dominik Kubalik
With one year left at $6.4M after this season, DeBrincat should be the biggest trade target for the Toronto Maple Leafs right now. The team could use an upgrade on their left-side in the top-six and there would be arguably no better option.
Obviously his money is a little high, but they could find a way to make it work. He’s scored 30-goals twice in his career and is on-pace to do it again this year. The 24-year-old would look unbelievable beside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and would easily translate that line into the best in the NHL.
If the team wants to find a cheaper forward, Strome and Kubilak are safer options.
Strome’s career hasn’t gone the way everyone expected. Originally drafted one spot ahead of Mitch Marner in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Strome’s shown flashes, but hasn’t done it consistently. Strome can play the wing or play centre, so he’s a versatile options for the Leafs, but would be better suited playing with high-end skill in the top-six on the left-side, in place of Ilya Mikheyev or Michael Bunting.
Another pending RFA is Kubalik, who holds a $3.7M cap-hit. With a career 0.34 goals-per-game, that’s a 28-goal pace in an 82-game season. As such, that’s steadiness over three years would be a tremendous add to the Leafs top-six and make them even stronger than they currently are.
No. 2: Defenseman
Trade targets: Calvin de Haan and Erik Gustafsson
Although the team would be better suited with a right-handed shooting defenseman, De Haan is a serviceable defenseman with close to 500 NHL games played.
He’s not going to help offensively, but he would be a player that you’d trust more than someone like Travis Dermott on the blue-line. He’s not the most ideal option but if the Leafs want someone with experience, de Haan is their guy.
Similar to de Haan, Gustafsson is a left-handed defenseman, but his upside is much brighter because he actually brings offense. During the 2018-19 season, he scored 17 goals and contributed 60 points in 72 games played (stats: hockeydb.com).
That was the best offensive output of his career, but it’s possible some of that offensive flare could come back in a better system such as the Leafs.
Both defensive options shouldn’t be huge targets for the Leafs, but if the price is low, it may be worth inquiring.
No. 3: Goaltenders
Trade target: Marc Andre-Fleury
This is a wild option, but hear me out. He makes $7M which is a ton of cash, but if Chicago retains 50 percent of the contract, it’s possible.
50 percent of $7M is $3.5M. Who makes close to that price-tag? Petr Mrazek ($3.8M).
With a realistic chance at winning a Stanley Cup this year, why not ship Mrazek out for Fleury and enhance your goaltender duo? Also, by doing so it frees up a ton of cap-space for next year.
There’s no goaltender available that has more Stanley Cup experience than Fleury. He’s won three rings and has played in five Stanley Cup Finals. He doesn’t need to be the number-one goaltender, but instead, can be the reassurance to Jack Campbell if things go sideways.
Fleury was a 1A/1B goaltender when Pittsburgh won back-to-back Stanley Cup’s, so being in that situation again shouldn’t be an issue. Campbell can run the table and play the entire playoff-run, or they can go to Fleury if Campbell struggles.
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Either way, adding Fleury would be a huge blessing to the line-up and would make the Leafs a Stanley Cup favorite.