What If the Toronto Maple Leafs Don’t Need to Add or Make Any Trades ?
The current version of the Toronto Maple Leafs is probably getting slightly unlucky *(Matthews hasn’t scored many multi-goal games, and seven OT losses is slightly ridiculous) and they still have a .700 points percentage.
They are the favorites to win this year’s Stanley Cup, and are likely the NHL’s best team.
The question is no longer “who should they trade for” but rather “should they trade for anyone?
The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Path to Improvement
Alex Kerfoot scored more at 5v5 last year than Tavares or Nylander and he’s a plus-defender who can skate anywhere in the lineup.
Calle Jarnkrok is signed for four years and hasn’t really made any kind of impact yet, but he’s a solid player.
Matthews Knies is one of the best players in the world not currently in the NHL. He is an option.
Nick Robertson is a great player who, if he can stay healthy, will be a star in this league.
Alex Steeves, Semyon Der Arguchintsov, Nick Abruzze, Mihail Abramov and Joey Anderson would all probably be in the NHL if they were on a different team.
Adding forwards means trading players from the current team, and blocking potential minor league players. Therefore, unless it’s Horvat, Mier, or Kane (Not O’Reilly) I can’t really see the point to adding any forwards.
Certainly depth additions like Sam Bennett or whatever are superfluous at this point. ( Maybe not, though. I thought getting Giordano was a waste of time, and he’s been amazing. Maybe Sam Bennett is the answer, but I doubt it. )
Defense is even more crowded.
The only player you’d even consider trading is Justin Holl. He’s leading the team in total ice time and is second in 5v5 ice time per game. He was their #1 over a 15 game stretch when they didn’t lose in regulation.
Liljegren and Sandin are future top-pairing, award competing, superstar. Their current contracts are among the most valuable in the NHL.
Gio makes $800 K and should fire his agent. He isn’t going anywhere.
Rielly, the team’s heart and soul, is signed for life.
The Leafs would need to be blown away to even consider trading Brodie or Holl.
They sit Conor Timmins, who would play on basically every other team.
The only way this blueline can improve is with the addition of a top-pairing, no-doubt superstar.
It’s really hard to acquire superstars, and to do so might cost so much it’s not worth doing. If that is the case, the Leafs should stand pat. Players like Connor Garland, Joel Edmunson, and Sam Bennet are nice ideas in theory, but if you have to sit Holl or Engvall to make it happen, the team is getting worse (name brand players make casual fans happy, but they don’t really help if they aren’t true stars).
The Toronto Maple Leafs best bet might just be to stand pat. I personally would only consider making a move if it was for a no-doubt elite superstar player, don’t care what position.