Toronto Maple Leafs Should Look to Canucks for a Trade

Could the Toronto Maple Leafs become trade partners with the Vancouver Canucks?

They most certainly could. Vancouver has a fire sale going on right now, and Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas would not be doing his job if he wasn’t inquiring about Vancouver’s available players.

Vancouver’s season has not been going well. They are currently two points back of a wild card spot, but changes could be on the way. By the end of December, if Vancouver is not in a playoff spot, expect some trades. Players on expiring contracts or players with big salary cap hits could be shipped out.

Vancouver’s roster has a few players that the Toronto Maple Leafs could find intriguing. Players such as Luke Schenn or Conor Garland, who Toronto has shown interest in before. Toronto is winning right now with a record of 7-0-3 in their last ten games. Pretty good for a team with three players on injured reserve and two more on long-term injured reserve.

Toronto has already made one trade this season. They acquired defenseman Conor Timmins for forward Curtis Douglas. It was a trade that Toronto needed to make with four defensemen out with injuries. Timmins played his first game for Toronto in a 4-0 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. He looked good in that game and could remain in the lineup on Thursday when Toronto hosts the Los Angeles Kings.

Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Targets on Vancouver Canucks

Conor Garland – RW/LW

Conor Garland could be a long-term replacement for Alex Kerfoot in Toronto’s top six.

Kerfoot, Calle Jarnkrok, Michael Bunting, and Nick Robertson have all spent time moving in and out of Toronto’s top six. Last season, Kerfoot recorded a career-high 51 points in 82 games. He spent most of his season playing with John Tavares and William Nylander on the second line. This season got off to a slow start for Kerfoot, and he is currently on the third line with 11 points in 27 games.
(Stats from hockey-reference.com)

Garland and Kerfoot had very similar numbers last season, with Garland recording 52 points in 77 games. This season, Garland has 11 points in 25 games. Kerfoot is a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) with a $3.5 million cap hit, but his salary is $750,000. Garland has three more seasons left on his contract with a cap hit of $4.95 million and a $4 million salary.

It seems unlikely that the Leafs would have interest in Garland at that salary.  They have much cheaper options that may be able to provide offense, and while they are known to like Garland, his cap hit borders on ridiculous.

However, with some salary retention, it is a distinct possibility because they have pursued him before. (Salary cap info from capfriendly.com)

Luke Schenn – D

The Toronto Maple Leafs defense has been depleted this season with injuries to Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, and Jordie Benn. Toronto has already added Conor Timmins, but with Rielly and Muzzin out long-term, more might be needed.

Luke Schenn could return to Toronto, where his career started, but it’s unlikely that he will. The Leafs clearly do not have an issue with depth, and would likely want more than a replacement player if they were going to bother with a trade.

Schenn would give Toronto a physical defenseman with a  low cap hit of $850,000 and so sure, if he comes cheap, why not?

Brock Boeser

Boeser hasn’t really come close to being the 30 goal, point-per-game player he flirted with being as a rookie, and he was a recent healthy scratch.

He is clearly on the trade market, and he’s not exactly a power-forward, but he’ll go to the dirty areas and grind out a few goals in addition to being a sniper.

His contract is going to make him untradable, but if some salary retention were to occur, you’d have to think the Leafs would love to add scoring depth down the lineup.

Bo Horvat

The pending free-agent might be the biggest chip on the market.

He has 20 goals in 26 games so far, and his tiny cap-hit is going to make him cost a fortune.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, I might remind you, have gone down in the playoffs three straight years because they didn’t score when it counted.  Could adding another elite scorer be what they need?

Is it ever a bad idea to add a player this good?