4 Superstars Toronto Maple Leafs Should Trade For

If the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to make a trade this year, it better be for a superstar.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are Stanley Cup contenders. Let me repeat that. The Toronto Maple Leafs are Stanley Cup contenders and could realistically win the championship this year.

For the past few years, this team has been a contender, although people seem to forget that pretty quickly because they haven’t won a playoff round.

Would you rather be a team like the Montreal Canadiens who made it to one Stanley Cup Final and lost, or a team that is consistently in the mix every year?

I’d rather take five lottery tickets than one and that’s exactly what the Leafs are right now.

They’ve continued to be in the mix since Auston Matthews’ second year, but haven’t gotten the job done. However, this year seems a little different. The team is playing the best defensive hockey of the Sheldon Keefe Era, despite playing Victor Mete regular minutes.

Their defensive-core has been hit with the injury bug, but they continue to win and it’s incredibly impressive. Obviously, nothing matters until the playoffs, but one of these years they’re going to win a series. It’s impossible to lose in Game 7 this many times in a row, so if it happens again, the Leafs should just be relegated to the American Hockey League, never to be seen again.

So with that being said, Toronto needs to make a splash and go big-name hunting to give themselves the best chance at a ring this year. They’ve made important small deals in the past, but this year should be all about acquiring a superstar.

Here are four superstars the Toronto Maple Leafs should target.

No. 1: Ryan O’Reilly

The St. Louis Blues are still a good hockey team, but they’re on the edge of a playoff berth right now.

If the Blues are out of contention near the trade deadline, they may be willing to sell O’Reilly, as they’ll get a great package for him in-return.

O’Reilly would be a perfect fit for Toronto in so many ways. Firstly, he’s a natural centreman, but a left-handed shot, so he and Tavares could take turns playing wing on the second-line.

It would help ease the defensive pressure for Tavares, as O’Reilly is one of the best defensive centres in the NHL.

Not only is he a great defensive player, but he’s a 20-goal scorer, who’s got the job done in the playoffs. He’s only a few years away from winning a Conn Smythe Trophy with the Blues and always plays his best in the playoffs.

Lastly, he’s a local kid and so is his wife. If there was ever a team where him and his family could easily move to mid-season, it would be Toronto.

If the Leafs want to win a Stanley Cup, they need to bolster their top-six and O’Reilly in there with a combination of William Nylander, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Tavares would be incredible.

He would be the perfect piece to this team and would be an unbelievable fit, as I’m sure he’d love the pressure of trying to win a championship in hockey’s biggest market.

No. 3: John Klingberg

I’d say the Leafs should acquire Erik  Karlsson over Klingberg in this position, but I don’t want a 31 year-old defenseman who’s making $11.5M until 2027 on this roster, when you need to re-sign the entire core before that contract ends.

With only one-year left on his deal, I’d much rather go after Klingberg, who I’ve been advocating the Leafs trade for since last season.

Klingberg possesses a lot of skills that Toronto need right now. He’s a right-shot defenseman with size, who can help contribute offensively.

He doesn’t provide as much grit that Jake Muzzin does, who Toronto is trying to replace, but he is a major upgrade over Justin Holl, who should be out of the line-up come the playoffs.

The 30 year-old has shown an ability to play top-pair minutes on-route to a Stanley Cup Final and has delivered offensively in those games as well. That experience is very important and he’d be a great fit on the Leafs blue-line who loves getting the puck up the ice.

Sure, Toronto should want to play physical, but their mantra is getting the puck out of the zone as quick and efficient as possible and that’s Klingberg’s strong suit.

No. 4: Bo Horvat

With 17 goals in 22 games to start the season, Horvat is playing out of his mind right now and he couldn’t have picked a better season to do so either as he’s currently on the last year of his $5.5M contract.

The Vancouver Canucks are terrible and Horvat seems unhappy right now with the status of his next contract.

If he’s not willing to re-sign, than it would only make sense for the Canucks to trade him and acquire the biggest hauil they can right now.

The 27-year-old centre previously played with Mitch Marner in junior, so it would be quite the reunion to bring these two players together.

Although the Toronto Maple Leafs already have two top centres, Horvat’s also a left-handed shot, similar to what we spoke about with O’Reilly, so he could naturally fit the left-wing or Tavares could slide to wing instead, so that’s not an issue.

As a consistent 20-goal scorer for his entre career, Horvat would be an unbelievable addition to the Leafs line-up that is already loaded and could make them an instant Stanley Cup contender.

Not only would this trade bolster the Leafs but it would also anger Canucks fans who already hate Toronto, which would be awesome to see.