It has now been a few days since the Toronto Maple Leafs decided to rattle the hockey world with a blockbuster trade to acquire star winger Kirill Marchenko from the Columbus Blue Jackets, but apparently they were not done on that day.
The trade could be seen as simple as acquiring Marchenko in exchange for Matthew Knies, but with the additions of Emil Andrae and Steven Lorentz from Toronto's side, and Elvis Merzlikins and Miles Wood from Columbus; it got more complicated and expanded into a seven-piece deal. One player though was not long for Toronto -- at least general manager John Chayka was not wanting him to be.
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, the Maple Leafs were hunting to make another deal; to move a piece of the big early-season blockbuster.
“I think they were trying to flip Miles Wood also that day,” Friedman said. “I think they were trying to work on trades to see if they could move him elsewhere. But obviously that didn’t happen, right now he’s with the Marlies, and we might see him during the season. You never know in this league. You think somethings going to happen, then injury situations make it occur.”
Maple Leafs were looking for another deal after Marchenko blockbuster
The Leafs were aiming to get rid of Miles Wood as soon as that same day that they acquired Marchenko and it makes sense why.
The 31-year-old winger is signed through the 2028-29 season and even if it's still just a cao hot of $2.5-million AAV, it's a little bit annoying to be locked into that player for so long. Especially when even though Wood is down in the AHL, there is still $1.275 million of that cap hit counting on the Leafs' books, since teams can only bury so much down in the minors.
Wood will remain with the Marlies for the time being, but it's not impossible to think of him being someone that gets the call to the NHL. If a player like Nick Paul, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, or Brandon Duhaime goes down with an injury, the Leafs have only so many options to replace them in the bottom six. Wood provides a whole lot of speed and checking ability, and could be a sparkplug while those players remain out.
The veteran winger is not going to be some underrated talent, but he has played 567 career games and scored 196 career points for a reason. Not the perfect player, but just a high-energy checker that fans might like to watch when a better option is out with an injury.
Or, you know, Wood could get traded like Chayka wants and some team takes him on to just do exactly what we just described. But, it does make sense there aren't many takers with a contract like that.
The Leafs look to continue their solid start to the season on Saturday night as they host the Ottawa Senators for the first Battle of Ontario.
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