The Toronto Maple Leafs could make the hard pivot into being a seller at this season's trade deadline and get a whole lot for their peripherial players. The latest trade in the NHL shows exactly how.
In a very rare trade between the two rivals, the New York Rangers and New York Islanders made a swap Monday night. The Rangers sent pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Carson Soucy to Long Island for a 2026 third-round draft pick. It's a quintessential deadline buy move -- a depth defenseman for a upper-mid-round draft pick -- but it shows exactly what the market is like for the Leafs.
And almost immediately the name of Simon Benoit came to mind.
Leafs could get decent return for Simon Benoit if they trade him
The Leafs defenseman has been in the rumour mill lately, as he was somewhat unexpectedly named to a trade board as a player the Leafs could move on before the March 6 deadline.
And it makes sense. Benoit is under contract through next season at a very acceptable $1.35-million AAV. He won't bring the offense to the bottom pair of a playoff team, but he sure will bring some physicality and hard-to-play-againstness. Almost exactly what Carson Soucy theoretically brings to the table with whatever team he is on.
Add the fact that Benoit is four years younger than the newest Islander and that he's under contract at a very cheap number for another season, and that is a dude who is worth much more than what the Rangers got for their rental blueliner.
We might not be talking anything more than maybe including another mid-round pick in a deal -- so it becomes a third- and a fourth-round pick for Benoit, but it is certainly making the most out of the situation.
Benoit is not making as much of an impact as he has in past seasons in Toronto and his future as a Leaf is extremely murky. If the Leafs decide to start selling off some peripherial players as a re-tool during a season they are not making the playoffs, this is the sort of move that we can expect.
It's not the biggest deal or a blockbuster that fans are demanding, but a smart and safe thing to do -- to get some assets back for a free agent signing and then make room for another player on the roster.
Benoit has three assists through 45 games this season and has a minus-4 rating.