4 Big-Name Players Toronto Maple Leafs Could Trade For Now

No. 1: John Klingberg (And Joe Pavelski?)

It’s no secret that Toronto needs to upgrade their defenseman and in my opinion, the best available player at the deadline is John Klingberg.

Klingberg can play top-four minutes and can help the team on the power-play. He’s a point-producing defenseman, but also has a ton of size, at 6-foot-3. Paired beside Rasmus Sandin, this could be a very productive second-pairing and would really balance out the entire defensive group.

Prior to the Muzzin injury, Klingberg was already somewhat affordable because he only makes $4.250M, but now that the Leafs have more cap-space, they could get creative and go all-in with a Dallas trade.

Joe Pavelski makes $7M and is on the last year of his contract. He has 53 points in 50 games and is having an amazing season. The Leafs already tried out Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton, so why not bring in another former long-term San Jose Shark and acquire Pavelski?

Funny enough, if Dallas were to retain 50% of both of their contracts, it would equal $5.625M exactly, which the amount of cap-space Toronto has.

They need help at left-wing and defense, so this trade could be the perfect solution.