The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t usually telegraph their moves in advance.
If there is one thing about the current Toronto Maple Leafs team that remains under the influence of Lou Lamoriello, it’s the fact that nothing escapes the dome of silence.
Half the trade rumours continue to sound like they were made up by people who wish the Leafs operated in a more old-school fashion. For example, Kyle Dubas trading a first round pick for Ben Chirot only sounds like something he would do if he “Freaky Friday’ed” with Dave Nonis.
Instead of Chiarot, or Manson, Dubas picked up Ilya Lyubushkin and now looks like an absolute genius, because two of his biggest competitors subsequently paid more for older players with higher cap hits who are worse players.
We can only Kyle Dubas has another ace up his sleeve, because what’s out there is really underwhelming.
Toronto Maple Leafs Can Do Better than Rumours
One persistent rumour is Jacob Middleton of the Sharks. This large sack o’beef is nine feet tall, but he shoots left and isn’t better than anyone on the current blue-line.
A nice depth add, I suppose, but who is sitting for him? Not the team’s best penalty killer (Liljegren) and not their new shutdown guy (Lyubushkin) and certainly not the guy who is possibly already their best all-round defenseman (Sandin).
Another rumour is Marc Andre Fleury, an idea so terrible I hesitate to even include it. The 37 year old goalie is declining and while he may give a psychological boost to the fan base, there is no reason to think he’d be better at this point than Jack Campbell. Plus he’d be expensive and prevent the Leafs from improving in places where they’d be more likely to positively impact the team.
This kind of high-risk hail mary would be a horrible way to end the Kyle Dubas era.
The third and most persistent rumour is Mark Giordano, another bad idea. A 38 year old lefty, Giordano doesn’t fit on this roster that is left-hand heavy and includes younger players who are better than him, but whose minutes he’d surely gobble up.
If Muzzin is out for the year and not coming back for the playoffs, then I would like this trade, assuming the price is reasonable. But I’d rather replace Hull with Lyubushkin and play both the rookies (or near rookies, as the case may be).
In the end, let’s hope we see some trades that are better than these lame rumours.