No. 1: Jake McCabe
The left-handed shot defenseman makes $4M and has two seasons left on his deal after this year. If Toronto were to acquire him, they’d be in for the long-haul, which isn’t a terrible idea, as that’s good cost-security.
Over the past month or so, McCabe’s name has continued to be rumored to Toronto and it makes sense why. First and foremost, he plays for Chicago, which the Leafs have a trade-history with and pretty much everyone on their roster is up for grabs.
At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, McCabe can play with some physicality, which the Leafs blue-line is currently missing and could be a good upgrade on the team’s second or third-pairing.
Although he’s been playing on the top-pair with Seth Jones in Chicago, he wouldn’t be a top-pairing player in Toronto. In a perfect world, if the Leafs acquired McCabe, Sandin could move to the right-side, pushing Justin Holl out of the line-up and McCabe into a second or third pairing role, but who knows if he would feel comfortable with that.
Regardless, with injuries, McCabe would be a good fit on the Leafs blue-line and a great replacement for Muzzin.