Top 8 Defensemen with Term the Toronto Maple Leafs Could Trade For

The Toronto Maple Leafs may be looking to trade for a defensemen before the NHL Trade Deadline on March, 21st to bolster their blueline before the playoffs.

Toronto Maple Leafs GM, Kyle Dubas, has said several times, most recently during his mid-season press availability, that he would rather acquire players with term instead of trading for rental players at the deadline.

There are obvious benefits to acquiring players with term on their contracts.  By trading for players with term, you’re not losing assets for a player that may only be with the team for a couple months before they potentially leave the team as a free agent.

Acquired players with term become tradable asset.  The Toronto Maple Leafs could potentially trade for a player before the deadline and then trade them or another player for non-roster assets after the season to make room to re-sign their current players (ie Jack Campbell).

Top 8 Defensemen with Term the Toronto Maple Leafs Could Get in Trade

I’m not just making a list of the top 8 defensemen that I’d like to see on the Toronto Maple Leafs.  These are players that I think the Toronto Maple Leafs may actually have a chance at getting.

For this list, I’m looking at physical defensive defensemen with size who can move players from in front of the Leafs net and make the team harder to play against.

I’m looking at teams that are rebuilding or should be looking to rebuild soon that have a defenseman under contract that’s at an age where they may not fit into the team’s future.

I’m also looking at defensemen the Toronto Maple Leafs could acquire under their cap without having to trade assets for salary retention like they did last season at the NHL Trade Deadline.

Some fans believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs are “cap strapped,” but in actuality they could easily free up some space by moving some non-roster.  Capfriendly.com estimates that the Leafs will have $1,016,150 in deadline cap space without moving additional salaries.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are also actively looking to move Nick Ritchie who’s $2.5 million salary adds $1.375 million in dead cap while he’s playing with the Toronto Marlies.  Toronto may have to add a sweetener to move Ritchie, but it shouldn’t be more than a low 2023 draft pick.

There are also options like moving Alex Kerfoot, Justin Holl, Travis Dermott or even demoting someone to the minors.  The point is that the Leafs have some flexibility if they feel its worth going after a more expensive player.

It’s usually more difficult to get teams to retain salary on players with term, and the Leafs may not want to lose a lot of picks like they did last season at the deadline.

Here are the top 8 defensemen with term the Toronto Maple Leafs could get in trade: