Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Defenseman Who Could Replace Jake Muzzin
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.
No. 2: Jakob Chychrun
Chychrun wouldn’t be a replacement for Muzzin in the sense that he would play a physical role, but instead, would eat up valuable minutes that Muzzin plays in the playoffs.
If Toronto wants to go “full-Leafs” and double-down on their identity, then they should do whatever it takes to acquire Chychrun. The 24-year-old would shine with the Leafs, and would give them an offensive burst they haven’t seen from the blue-line since Morgan Rielly’s 72-points season.
With seven goals and 27 points in 35 games thus far, Chychrun is one of the bright-spots on a terrible Arizona Coyotes team.
Since the offseason, he’s been rumored to have wanted traded from Arizona and it’s easy to see why. Chychrun’s talent needs to displayed in front of a real sold-out crowd every night and he needs to shine in a big market.
What better market than the Toronto Maple Leafs to display that talent? If Arizona is smart, they’d only do this deal if Matthew Knies is involved and if Toronto is smart, they’d part ways with Knies immediately in order to improve their blue-line.
No. 3: Vladislav Gavrikov
The 6-foot-3, 220 pound left-shot defenseman would be a perfect replacement for Muzzin, based on his physical attributes and skillset.
With a $2.8M cap-hit, Gavrikov’s contract is very affordable, which is huge for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Not only that, but it was reported by Sportsnet’s Luke Fox that the Columbus Blue Jackets were only looking for a first-round pick and a third-rounder.
The Leafs have been known to do business with the Blues Jackets in the past, most famously with the Nick Foligno deadline deal, so it wouldn’t be shocking if these two parties linked up again.
Gavrikov wouldn’t be the sexiest name out there for Toronto to acquire, but he could be exactly what they’re looking for. He’s going to be a reliable, defensively-sound player, who will play large minutes on the penalty-kill and can be a shutdown player in front of the net.
Although he isn’t going to give you offensive upside like Jakob Chychrun, Gavrikov is going to be safe and reliable defenseman, which is what you need to win in the spring. A big goal from the blue-line is important, but stopping them from going in your own net is usually more valuable in the playoffs.
Next. Leafs Should Trade Every Asset They Have. dark
Based on his contract and what feels like a small price to pay, I think Gavrikov would be my favorite addition to replace Jake Muzzin at the NHL Trade Deadline this year.