With Thanksgiving looming in the United States, the focus on the season has shifted from “it’s early,” to “trade talk.” That situation has prompted speculation regarding certain players and teams to head into high gear.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are no exception. The Leafs are in dire straits and could be looking to add by subtraction. The narrative has now focused on moving out current roster players in exchange for other useful roster pieces.
One of the areas that has been lacking is physicality and toughness. The games against the Boston Bruins a couple of weeks ago proved the Maple Leafs don’t have the players to stand up and engage bullies. The only player who stepped up to send Nikita Zadorov a message was Max Domi.
Domi, of course, lost like about six inches on Zadorov but that didn’t stop him from chucking knuckles with the bruising blueliner. Beyond Domi, there wasn’t really anyone who could have a word with the Bruins’ resident bully.
That situation means the Maple Leafs should look into bringing in someone who can police the ice. That role had been held by Ryan Reaves. However, the team felt that Reaves’ one-dimensional play wasn’t worth a roster spot. Deploying Reaves for seven minutes a night just to bounce around a couple of guys here and there wasn’t worth the trouble.
Boy, the Leafs could have used Reaves against Zadorov. But then again, what if the Maple Leafs could bring in a player who’s not one-dimensional and could address the physicality issue? Such a player might be available.
According to Chris Johnston’s trade board in The Athletic, the Minnesota Wild could be looking to move a veteran agitator. Said agitator is Ryan Hartman. As Johnston noted:
“Hartman is an agitator who often finds himself straddling the line of acceptable on-ice conduct, and he can be trusted defensively. He’s mixed in a couple big offensive seasons for the Wild in recent years, too.”
The Maple Leafs would do well to kick the tires on Hartman. The 31-year-old is in the second year of a three-year deal that carries a $4 million cap hit. With a roster-for-roster, the Leafs may be able to bring in Hartman.
The cost for Maple Leafs to land Hartman from Wild
Like the Maple Leafs, the Wild view themselves as playoff contenders. They are in the thick of the playoff race in the Central Division. So, if the Wild move Hartman, it will be for piece(s) that could help them in their playoff race.
At best, Hartman is a third-liner. While he may be able to step up to the top six in a pinch, Hartman is more of a 12 to 14-minute a night kind of guy. He can mix it up and send a message if need be. The added physicality should come in handy across various situations.
That’s why Hartman likely won’t come cheap. The Wild may want a roster player who could contribute offensively. Perhaps someone like Bobby McMann might pique the Wild’s interest. But then again, would sending a younger player like Bobby McMann for Ryan Hartman make sense?
Unless the Wild are willing to take on someone like Calle Jarnkrok or Dakota Joshua, bringing Ryan Hartman in may be more of a pipe dream. Still, you would have to think that Brad Treliving could dump someone like Max Domi on the Wild for Hartman. If Treliving could pull off such a move, the Maple Leafs could come out ahead.