Toronto Maple Leafs Rumours: Travis Sanheim and Noah Hanifin

The Toronto Maple Leafs may not have made any moves since their new GM was hired, but it’s appearently not for lack of trying.

According to multiple sources, the Toronto Maple Leafs have, at the very least,  kicked the tires on Philadelphia Flyers  defenseman Travis Sanheim, as well as Calgary Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin.

Both players would be upgrades to what the team currently has.

But both players bring with them a massive amount of risk, and I think it is actually pretty unlikely that the Leafs will get either.

Toronto Maple Leafs Rumorus: Travis Sanheim and Noah Hanifin

Travis Sanheim is 27 and signed to a bonkers contract that the Leafs should want no part of.

Sanheim has a $6.3 million cap-hit until 2031 when he will be 105 years old, roughly.  The defenseman is actually pretty decent, but not for that kind of money.

Sanheim had a bad year last year and that’s why he’s supposedly available.  Now, if you could get Philly to retain money for the next decade, this would be an interesting acquisition.  It would also be the kind of trade you could take a risk on if you got the player at an extreme discount.

Read: Free.

Now, if Philly is paying you to take Sanheim, this contract might be tolerable. It’s still not a very good cap-hit, but he’s a top-pairing worthy defender who would nicely compliment a star player, or who could anchor a very solid second pairing.

If Philly would eat $2 million you’d probably pay handsomely if you think his down year was a one-off.

As for Hanifin, he’s been tied to the Leafs ever since they hired Treliving, but he’s just as risky.  If the trade wasn’t too expensive, one year of Hanifin before letting someone else overpay him as a UFA would be nice.

However, teams should always be wary of signing non-superstar players to huge deals (see Sanheim, Travis) or overpaying for name-brand guys who’ve never achieved too much.

For whatever reason, Hanifin is seen as a better player than Sanheim, even though he’s only a year younger and the actual difference between their overall play is likely marginal.  Sanheim offers better defense, and Hanifin is a more offensive type.

Either way, it’s shaping up to be an interesting summer.  Personally, if I was Brad Treliving, I’d grow out my hair so I didn’t look so much like Al Bundy, then after than I’d focus on younger players who might cost more to acquire but that offset their risk with more upside.