4 Pending UFA's That the Toronto Maple Leafs Should Trade For

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Instead of focusing on current UFA’s, the Toronto Maple Leafs should shift thier attention to trading for a 2023 UFA.

If you’re a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, you may feel dissapointed right now. The team hasn’t acquired a big-name free agent or made a huge splash via trade, but instead, the team has focused on value contracts, with potential upside.

Ilya Samsonov is a former first-round pick, who has struggled to become a starting goaltender in the NHL, but at $1.8M for one-year, he could be a diamond in the rough. Their other goaltender, Matt Murray, who they traded for in the offseason is another experiment.

Although Murray has two Stanley Cup rings, he hasn’t shown that type of winning pedigree in a few seasons, so many critics think he’s just a flash-in-the-pan. That may be true, but the Leafs are obviously banking on the fact that one of either Samsonov or Murray will be good enough to lead a championship team.

Calle Jarnkrok, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Adam Gaudette, Victor Mete and Jordie Benn are a few other offseason additions, but none of them jump off the page.

Jarnkrok will surprise many and probably score 20 goals on this club, but the other four are going to be fringe NHLers that provide depth and that doesn’t get people excited.

With the majority of the big-name 2022 UFA’s signed or unaffordable, Toronto should shift their focus to 2023. There are a number of players who have one-year left on their deals and are available.

As shown recently by the Matthew Tkachuk trade and even Johnny Gaudreau signing, anything is possible in this league and even the team least expected can acquire a big-name player.

Here are four players who the Toronto Maple Leafs should target in the trade-market who are pending UFA’s.

SUNRISE, FL – MARCH 31: Patrick Kane #88 of the Chicago Blackhawks skates with the puck prior to the game against the Florida Panthers at the FLA Live Arena on March 31, 2022 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /

No. 1: Patrick Kane ($10.5M)

The most obvious and biggest trade the Toronto Maple Leafs could make right now, would be to acquire Patrick Kane.

The three-time Stanley Cup winner is 33-years-old, but has so much left to give. After missing the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, you’d have to think that his juices are flowing to get back on a winning squad and try to win his fourth Stanley Cup.

In 2010, Kane scored a Stanley Cup overtime winning goal to break the Blackhawks 49-year championship drought, so maybe Kane could the secret-weapon to break the Leafs current drought?

The former first-overall pick would be brilliant riding shotgun to Auston Matthews or John Tavares and it would make the Leafs offense virtually unstoppable.

Kane’s contract is clearly a huge obstacle, but with only one-year left, it’s possible that the Blackhawks would retain 50% of his deal, if the Leafs gave them a sweetener. Whatever that sweetener is, it’s worth it, because these types of players don’t become available every day.

ST PAUL, MN – MARCH 13: Matt Dumba #24 of the Minnesota Wild looks on against the Nashville Predators in the first period of the game at Xcel Energy Center on March 13, 2022 in St Paul, Minnesota. The Predators defeated the Wild 6-2. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) /

No. 2: Matt Dumba ($7M)

T.J Brodie, Timothy Liljegren and Justin Holl on the right-side doesn’t sound like a Stanley Cup winning defense-core, so the Leafs should look to the Minnesota Wild to make a trade.

Dumba is on the last year of his $6M AAV deal and is bound for a pay-raise. Unfortunately for him, if he wants to stay in Minnesota, he probably won’t be able to secure that money because there’s no team in the league in worse salary-cap hell than Minnesota.

From 2022 to 2025, Minnesota will have between $12-14M in dead-cap money, which will make contract extensions very hard.

As a result, Dumba could become a valuable trade asset and the Leafs could be a trade partner for them.

Dumba’s been linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a long time and his physicality and offensive upside would be a welcomed sight on the team’s blue-line. Dumba’s health has been questioned over the past few years, but when healthy, he can be a reliable top-four defenseman and someone who can help run a power-play.

TORONTO, ON – MARCH 31: Pierre-Luc Dubois #80 of the Winnipeg Jets skates . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

No. 3: Pierre-Luc Dubois ($6M)

Dubois would fit perfectly in the Toronto Maple Leafs top-six and at $6M AAV, they need to trade for him.

Although he re-signed in Winnipeg, there’s a 0 percent chance he’s still with the team in two years, so they may as well trade him and get as much value out of him as they can.

The Jets were previously looked at as a team that was a Stanley Cup contender and Canada’s best chance at winning a championship, but that narrative changed quickly. Although they have Connor Hellebuyck in-net, who gives them a real chance to win every night, it doesn’t feel like the rest of the roster is good enough to compete.

As such, they may as well give Dubois his wish and ship out of town and send him to a place that has a real shot at winning; Toronto.

We all saw what Dubois is capable of in the playoffs, when he torched the Leafs in the “play-in” series, so it would be nice to see him doing that with Toronto, instead of against them.

The Leafs are lacking at the left-wing position right now, and a power-forward such as Dubois at a decent price-tag could be a piece that the Leafs are desperately missing.

TORONTO, ON – MARCH 27: Jonathan Huberdeau #11 of the Florida Panthers skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on March 27, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

No. 4: Jonathan Huberdeau ($5.9M)

Speaking of left-wingers who would make the Toronto Maple Leafs much better, let’s take a look at Huberdeau, who’s on the last year of his $5.9M AAV contract.

Huberdeau’s contract has to be one of the best in hockey. He makes less than William Nylander, yet just scored 30 goals and 115 points, and was a Hart Trophy candidate. For the past four years, he’s been well over a point-per-game player and is one of the best set-up men in the NHL.

Imagine a first-line of Mitch Marner, Jonathan Hubedeau and Auston Matthews?

Would Matthews score 70 goals, maybe 80 goals next season? With two of the best passers and visionaries in the league, Matthews would somehow find even more scoring chances than before and be even more unstoppable than he was this year.

After trading Tkachuk for Huberdeau, you’d assume they’d want to try to re-sign him, but at the same time, it wouldn’t be shocking if they try to flip him for another big-haul.

Next. 3 Trade Partners for the Leafs. dark

If Huberdeau doesn’t want to stay in Calgary (which he probably won’t because nobody seems to want to) then the Leafs should do whatever it takes to acquire him.

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