3 reasons the Maple Leafs should pull off a blockbuster for Colton Parayko
Despite finding themselves in playoff contention, the Blues may still find a trading partner for Colton Parayko, and the Maple Leafs need to pick up the phone.
The Toronto Maple Leafs could bring in a goaltender near the 2024 trade deadline, but given some solid play in the net recently, perhaps they go in a different direction. Toronto, if you haven’t been keeping up lately, has been playing like one of the best teams in the NHL since February 13th, and if they keep this up, maybe a blockbuster trade should be in the works to make their biggest push yet for a Stanley Cup.
One potential trade candidate who comes to mind is Colton Parayko, who recently found himself on the losing end against the Maple Leafs twice in a seven-day span. Overall, Parayko’s St. Louis Blues team is struggling to stick around in the wild card race, meaning a player of his caliber could be on the way out should the Blues decide to sell.
The Maple Leafs should strongly consider Parayko by the deadline
While there are a few suitors for Parayko, the Maple Leafs stick out more than most teams. For one, they would get a player who would be part of this perennial playoff contender for the rest of the decade, as Parayko is in the second year of a new contract.
For another, his contract is frontloaded, so Toronto would only owe him his peak salary of $8 million a year over the next two seasons. While the Maple Leafs would have to give up a lot to make this trade happen, the long-term benefits of an outstanding blueliner for a team making annual postseason trips speak volumes.
Other obstacles include Parayko’s full no-trade clause, but if he had a chance to play for a strong Maple Leafs team in lieu of a Blues team that may be going nowhere for a while, there is a good chance he tosses it aside for such a move to happen.
Clearly, it would be an ultra-bold, ultra-expensive move on Toronto’s part, especially early. But let’s talk about three reasons why the Leafs should do whatever it takes to bring Parayko to Ontario.
Colton Parayko’s presence would parlay an already hot Maple Leafs team
When you’re a team that has won just one playoff series in the past 20 seasons, and you’re currently one of the hottest teams in hockey, it’s time to do all you can to go all-in. Fans in Toronto have waited long enough to see their team hoist the Stanley Cup, and as arguably the NHL’s most dominant team over the past two weeks, the time is right to bring in a player who would upgrade a team peaking just when the playoff race is really starting to heat up.
As for Parayko, he once again finds himself on an unspectacular St. Louis Blues team where he has 21 points in 57 contests. His nine goals are approaching a career-high, and he’s also been stealing pucks and blocking would-be shots on goal left and right.
There’s no question that Parayko is having one of the best seasons of his professional career, and an organization with a starved fan base in Toronto must take advantage to bring in the blueliner and let him fill one of the missing pieces to a Maple Leafs team that right now looks like it can make a deep playoff run.
No, he won’t come cheap, but given Toronto’s current situation, finding a way to bring in Parayko will be well worth it.
Parayko would bring a lot of stability to Toronto in the defensive zone
Despite the Maple Leafs strong play, they are still 16th in goals allowed, and you can’t completely drop blame onto the goaltenders. Toronto has given up 1,685 shots against across 57 games, and some simple math shows us that the quotient equals 29.5 shots on goal against per contest, something they can stand to improve over the season’s final month-and-a-half.
In 57 games with the Blues this season, Parayko has 145 blocked shots, which are steamrolling toward his career-high of 169. His 47 takeaways are just 12 away from a new personal-best, so his presence on Toronto’s top-four would surely take away a few of those would-be shots on goal.
Further, his on-ice presence has been priceless for a St. Louis Blues team that ranks 15th in the league in goals allowed, just one notch above Toronto. And at even strength, the Blues boast an on-ice save percentage of 91.7 with Parayko and 91.6 at 5-on-5.
His offensive zone starting percentage is 40.5 and 41.5 respectively in both situations, but with a Corsi and Fenwick of 43.7 or better in both situations, we also know he’s helping St. Louis find potential shooting lanes in the offensive zone. If you put him on someone like Toronto, who has much more scoring potential, Parayko’s presence could parlay the team to new heights.
Parayko would give Toronto a complete player
The Maple Leafs wouldn’t be getting a stay-at-home blueliner, but one who can help out in more than a few situations. Parayko doesn’t give you much on the power play, with about 28.5 minutes on the man advantage this season, but he’s still a force when the Blues are shorthanded, and Toronto could use help when facing opposing power plays. He even has one shorthanded goal and one assist at 4-on-5, so there’s also some scoring potential here.
Even strength and 5-on-5 are different stories when the Blues are in the offensive zone, especially with eight of his nine goals coming in those respective situations. He also has four game-winners to his name this year and an 8.3 shooting percentage, both of which are pretty good for a defenseman.
He’s also been ultra-durable, logging a career-best 23:51 of average total ice time and missing just five games since the 2021-22 season began. Should Toronto make such a blockbuster trade occur and Parayko keeps bringing a sound two-way approach, then they are getting a complete player for a long time.
The price tag for a player like Parayko will scare a lot of teams off, but the Maple Leafs have been strong playoff contenders in need of one more game-changer who can finally help them win consistently in the postseason. Parayko putting on arguably his best season yet, his complete game, and sound defensive play are all reasons why Toronto should make a strong push to land him.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference as of February 25th)