These 2 Trades Will Help Toronto Maple Leafs Win Stanley Cup
This is arguably the best Toronto Maple Leafs team we’ve ever seen, but they still need to make two significant changes at the NHL Trade Deadline to improve their chances at winning the Stanley Cup.
You can criticize just about anything but if you look through the Toronto Maple Leafs line-up, it’s hard to find something significantly wrong. Sure, the second-line and goaltending has gone cold over the past month, but it’s just a mid-season slump.
William Nylander and John Tavares will turn it around and be just fine, while Jack Campbell was voted to the NHL All-Star Team earlier this year. We shouldn’t expect him to get back to a below 2.00 GAA and .950 SV%, but he should be able to steer the ship as the playoffs near.
Even the Toronto Maple Leafs defensive structure has been solid this season, as they’re 11th best in shots allowed this year and Morgan Rielly is back playing as a legit number-one defenseman. The pairing of him and T.J. Brodie has been fantastic, and the emergence of Rasmus Sandin this season has been great to see.
However, as we get closer to the NHL Trade Deadline, the Leafs need to make two significant trades in order to compete for a Stanley Cup.
Toronto Maple Leafs Need To Make a Big Splash on Defense
If Jake Muzzin is going to be out until the playoffs start, how can we expect him to perform when (or if) he returns to the line-up? When healthy, he’s an intimidating player and legitimate top-four defenseman, but without him, the Leafs defensive-pairings really start to struggle.
Without him in the line-up, you’re relying on a combination of the following defenseman to get the job done in the playoffs:
- Morgan Rielly
- T.J. Brodie
- Ilya Lyubushkin
- Justin Holl
- Rasmus Sandin
- Timothy Liljegren
- Travis Dermott
Of those seven defenseman, Rielly, Brodie, Sandin and maybe Lyubushkin are the only players you’d actually trust in a big-moment. The other three have made more than their share of mistakes throughout the season and you’d hate to see them playing meaningful minutes against a playoff team.
Assuming Muzzin doesn’t come back anytime soon and Toronto can take advantage of his $5.65M cap-space, the Leafs need to go big-game hunting.
First and foremost, this team needs to acquire John Klingberg.
Having Klingberg in the line-up and in the team’s top-four will make them significantly better. He’s a big-body defenseman, who can also help offensively. He had a lot of playoff experience in the Dallas Stars’ recent run to the Stanley Cup Finals, and although he’s a pending UFA, that’s not a big deal when you’re trying to win the championship this season.
If Toronto can acquire Klingberg, it shouldn’t mean they’re done shopping. Even with Klingberg in the line-up, the Leafs would still have roughly $1.5M free to trade for another defenseman.
Who should that defenseman be? Well, now that the team’s got their big right-handed defenseman, they need a veteran who can play the left-side.
That defenseman’s name is Zdeno Chara.
With a wealth of experience and many years spent dominating the Leafs, Chara can turn back the clock for two months and be a leader for this hockey team. In what will probably be his last playoff push, Chara is a defensive-first player that Toronto needs.
So with that being said, the Leafs defensive-core could look something like this if they made those trades happen:
- Morgan Rielly – T.J. Brodie
- Rasmus Sandin – John Klingberg
- Zdeno Chara – Ilya Lyubushkin
That third-pairing of Chara and Lyubushkin would be a heavy-force that nobody would want to play against. They’re big and nasty and will scare the living hell out of anyone they go up against.
It would also keep Travis Dermott, Timothy Liljegren and Justin Holl as depth defensemen, in case of injuries, which is where they should be slotted right now.
When Muzzin returns, it will push Sandin down, who can then split time with Chara, or they can take Sandin out completely, which may not be a terrible thing.
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When Muzzin returns, that defensive-group will get even better, but for the meantime, those six defenseman could be the perfect recipe to help the Toronto Maple Leafs win a Stanley Cup.