The Toronto Maple Leafs may have found help with their Petr Mrazek problem.
According to Jonas Siegel and Scott Powers, the Chicago Blackhawks are willing to help. There is a catch, Toronto will need to add a sweetener to the deal. Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas will need to give Chicago a prospect or draft pick. That is the price to be paid for Chicago taking Mrazek and his $3.8 million for two seasons.
I have heard fans say that Chicago needs a goaltender, so Toronto holds all the cards in a possible deal. A statement like that is only partially true. Chicago does need a goaltender, but they could sign one from the free-agent market. They are the ones doing Toronto GM Kyle Dubas a favor. Chicago doesn’t need to help Toronto with its salary cap problems, but if they are willing to help, you add the sweetener.
Since the Toronto Maple Leafs do not have many draft picks, sending a prospect to the Blackhawks is the most likely scenario. Depth at defense and goaltender is where Chicago needs the most help. Toronto has plenty of young defensemen in their system. Kyle Dubas should be able to spare one to get a deal done.
Toronto needs to get rid of the Mrazek contract to create space for a new starting goalie, or the return of Jack Campbell.
Potential Trade Between Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto GM Kyle Dubas will not trade away his first-round pick to get rid of Mrazek like he did to get Carolina to take the last year of Patrick Marleau’s contract. Marleau wasn’t an NHL player any longer and he was being paid like a star player. There is no comparison to the current situation in terms of cost.
Chicago will be looking for the next best thing, a second-round pick plus a prospect. The Maple Leafs do not own a second-round selection until 2024 but could acquire one in a separate trade.
Cap relief is the biggest concern for the Toronto Maple Leafs in this deal, and they won’t want much in return. A potential trade between the two teams could look something like this.
To Chicago: Petr Mrazek, Mikko Kokkonen, 2nd round pick
To Toronto: 2023 7th round pick
There is no way of knowing which prospect will be in the deal, but this is a guess. With Chicago willing to help, I hope Dubas can make it happen. I would not be surprised if the Toronto Maple Leafs get a return of future considerations.
Just do what it takes to give the team $3.8 million more to spend. Until a trade happens, we wait and speculate.