4 Under the Radar Players Toronto Maple Leafs Should Trade For

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 29: Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs attempts to make a shot on goal against Alex Nedeljkovic #39 and Marc Staal #18 of the Detroit Red Wings in the first period of the game at Little Caesars Arena on January 29, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JANUARY 29: Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs attempts to make a shot on goal against Alex Nedeljkovic #39 and Marc Staal #18 of the Detroit Red Wings in the first period of the game at Little Caesars Arena on January 29, 2022 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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Toronto Maple Leafs
DETROIT, MICHIGAN – JANUARY 29: Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The Toronto Maple Leafs are making a trade, but it may not be for a player you’re very familiar with.

There have been a number of “big-name” players floating in Toronto Maple Leafs trade rumors. John Klingberg is the most obvious choice, but let’s not talk about him today.

Instead, let’s focus our attention to a few players that are good NHLers that may not be too known to the average Leafs fan.

Since the Leafs are tight to the salary cap this season and next, adding a player can be tricky for financial reasons. Although you’d love to add the best player, sometimes you need to get creative and add someone on less term and less money to improve your roster.

Over the years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have done this with a few players in the offseason, but they haven’t been able to execute the perfect mid-season trade. Ondrej Kase, Jason Spezza and Michael Bunting are all great examples of players on cheap contracts who have helped this tremendously this year, so think of someone like that through this experiment.

The Leafs need forward depth but they could also use help on the blue-line.

As a result, here are a few under-the-radar players that the Toronto Maple Leafs should target at the NHL Trade Deadline this year.