The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to trade for a centre sooner, than later, but who?
If you look at the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, it is kind of crazy that they came into this season so thin at centre. They gave didn't sign or trade for a 3C even though it was a constant topic of conversation all summer, and everyone assumed Domi would be back with Matthews,but that didn't happen. They also gave no time to the idea of Nylander or Marner playing the position, and they couldn't have counted on John Tavares' resurgence being so glorious.
When Max Domi played on the top-line with Auston Matthews last year for about 20 games, he scored at a rate higher than Connor McDavid ever has over a full season. Obviously he wasn't going to stay at that level, but it's still crazy that they haven't gone back to that.
The Leafs have been using Domi at centre recently, but it's not a long-term sollution. A recent injury to Auston Matthews saw them play games with Pontus Holmberg and David Kampf at 2C, so clearly they need to add.
6 Centres Toronto Maple Leafs Could Actually Trade For
You could run a top-nine of (Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Max Domi/Bobby McMann-John Tavares-Mitch Marner/Max Pacioretty-William Nylander-Nick Robertson and I think you'd be pretty happy about it. However, we all know that isn't going to happen at this point, so the Leafs need to go out and find themselves a third-line centre.
So what type of centre will they get and what are they going to trade to acquire one? They've already suggested that they'd prefer a player on term, but will they give up David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, Nick Robertson or even a top-level prospect? Will they have to bundle their future draft capital away to get one?
I've always been one to say that the team should trade away first-round picks and top prospects when they're going for a championship, but I wouldn't suggest that for a third-line centre. If you're going to get a top-four defenseman, trade the farm, but for a 3C, I don't want to see anything more than salary-dumping of the Jarnkrok/Kampf deal and/or a mid-level draft pick going the other way.
Regardless, here are six centres the Leafs could potentially be adding to their lineup this year.