Where Does Chychrun Even Fit?
The Leafs have Giordano, Sandin and Rielly on the left side. To go from any one of those player to Chychrun is not a very big upgrade, even under a best case scenario where Chychrun reaches his max potential.
Sandin is three million dollars cheaper, negating any upgrade outside of Chychrun unless he was to somehow turn into an absolute best-in-the-league kind of player.
Which he won’t.
Giordano is so cheap, he stays.
That leaves Rielly.
He’s the heart and soul of a team that, for all its other flaws, has exhibited quite a few examples of never giving up. The fact that this team even stayed together shows to me the kind of never-quit attitude the Toronto Maple Leafs fans tend to value in their players.
Theoretically, this is the only way a Leafs/Chychrun trade even makes any sense.
Going from Rielly’s eight million for the next seven years after this one, to four million for a three year commitment of a younger player, with more upside, does make sense on a number of levels.
But even then, Rielly’s leadership, place on the team, and superior offensive ability make such a swap a complete waste of time.
The Leafs would pay some kind of ridiculous premium in order to make the swap[, then the Coyotes would eat half of Rielly’s salary and get a king’s ransom for half price 70 point defenseman in his prime.
The Leafs would save $3 million and be perhaps slightly better. In the long run it’s a win for them because of the contracts, but a major loss in terms of team chemistry, the community etc.
Morgan Rielly was signed because he IS the Toronto Maple Leafs. This is his team, his dressing room, his boys.
The cost of that upgrade, small as it is, is to rip the heart out of the team one week into the season when you had all summer to do whatever you wanted. The Leafs were under no pressure to sign Morgan Rielly and could easily have let him walk like they do with all of their other RFAs.
They signed him because he is the de facto captain of the team, a genuinely decent person and valued member of the team and community.
Morgan Rielly is one of the longest serving Leafs of all-time. He also brings with him all the experience and knowledge gained from all their recent attempts to get over the first round hump.
Only 5 defenseman have played more games than Morgan Rielly in franchise history. 4 after this season.
— Editor in Leaf (@EditorinLeaf) October 22, 2022
The upgrade from Rielly to Chychrun is small at best and is therefore not worth pursuing. The Leafs don’t need the cap space that badly. There are other ways to get it if they want.
Muzzin makes $5.5
Murray makes $4.5
There is ten million big ones on the LTIR (technically Muzzin might return, but all signs point to an eventual LTIR placement).
Kerfoot and Holl make another $5.5.
This gives the Leafs a lot of flexibility to make moves, and why would they trade such an integral part of their team for an oft injured question mark who plays the position in which they are the deepest.
Jacob Chychrun is not worth Nick Robertson in a straight up, one for one trade. The best time to trade Nick Robertson is never.
The most important thing the Leafs have done in the last year is break Sandin, Liljegren and Robertson into the NHL. Patiently waiting for them to become core players is going to help this team a hell of a lot more than a panicky trade for an overrated, injury prone player they don’t need.
Chychrun plays the position the Leafs are deepest at (left defense) and if Muzzin is done for the season, that means they finally have enough room to play their six best defenseman. Pretending that they lost the All-Star version of Muzzin and therefore have the need to make a panic trade for a guy who might not even be better than Rasmus Sandin is non existent.
I have been saying for a year that if they could waive Muzzin and lose him for nothing, it would make room for better, more reliable players. I feel sorry he is hurt, but he isn’t any kind of loss to the Leafs. He was their worst defenseman, and it was made worse because the coach can’t/won’t play him as if he is.
If Muzzin can go to the LTIR for the rest of the season, it sucks for him personally, but is a huge break for the Toronto Maple Leafs. It isn’t something they need to respond to with a trade. Let alone one of the worst ones ever proposed by any member of the media, ever.
Nick Robertson is untouchable. Trading him to Phoenix after he finally establishes himself in the NHL is about the worst idea I’ve ever heard. Or at least it was until I read further and noted that “keeping Alex Kerfoot” was one of the benefits of trading Robertson.
OK then.
Let me be very clear: No signs are pointing to the desert.
The Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t trading Nick Robertson any more than they are going to fire their coach or trade William Nylander. This is a very bad, very desperate idea. It ain’t happening.