The Toronto Maple Leafs need a puck moving defenseman, so why not look west at the Vancouver Canucks who may be about to start a fire-sale?
According to Sportsnet's Elliote Friedman, the Canucks are not looking at trading Hughes, yet, as mentioned in his recent article by an NHL executive: "They’ve made it clear (trading "Hughes") is not their priority right now." Despite them not neccesarily being interested at the moment, maybe they're not inclined to trade him because they haven't heard of the right deal yet?
Vancouver is looking at trading their older stars, so shipping away one of the best defensemen in the NHL may be a stretch, but why wouldn't they consider it if Matthew Knies went back in return? The Leafs are clearly in a win-now window and although Knies is a huge help to their top-six, the thing they desperately need is a puck-moving defenseman.
Ever since Bryan McCabe and Thomas Kaberle played for this team, the Leafs haven't had a true number-one defenseman, and it's the main thing that has stopped them in the playoffs. Every legitimate Stanley Cup team has a player who can eat 30 minutes and play penalty-kill and power-play, yet the Leafs haven't had that player.
In order to move this team forward, they need a number-one defenseman they can work with and Quinn Hughes can be that player. As much as it would be great to watch Knies retire as a Leaf because he's one of the only players who play the way these fans appreciate, Hughes is a better option in the long-term.
Quinn Hughes would change the dynamic of the Leafs
So what does the trade look like? If Hughes comes to the Leafs, they need to know that they can re-sign him in the offseason, so they need to get that answer before they acquire him. So if they know he's going to re-sign, the trade looks like something like this:
Toronto Maple Leafs acquire Quinn Hughes and Tyler Myers in exchange for Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson, and Easton Cowan.
Are you as shocked as I am? Toronto would be giving up three young scorers in exchange for one great defenseman and a veteran player, but the Leafs desperately need a top defenseman.
When you get someone like Hughes on your roster, it completely changes the dynamic of this team. Will this trade push the team backwards this year? Yes, absolutely. It kills the depth of this organization in the short-term, but in the long-term, it helps them tremendously.
With all of the injuries, you could aruge that this is already a lost season, so the Leafs need to unload a few pieces and create some room to go after some big free agents in the offseason because if they play their cards right, they could have $25M to spend this summer.
This trade may sound insane, but Hughes helps this team more than Knies does and it could be a win-win for both parties.