Jordan Eberle and Colton Parayko
The Leafs have been linked to Jordan Eberle of the Seattle Kraken and Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues. Acquiring either of these players would be expensive on the Leafs salary cap. Eberle would be a rental at $5.5 million, and Parayko would be a long-term investment at $6.5 million until the end of the 2029-30 season.
I'm going to start with the Eberle rumor. He is 33 years old and plays the right wing. The Leafs don't need a winger for the right side. Unless Eberle can play on the left wing, I don't see the point of acquiring him.
For $5.5 million, the Leafs will want him in the top six. No team should have a $5 million player playing on the third or fourth lines. Eberle has nine goals and 20 assists for 29 points in 48 games. Although the Leafs might have interest in him, I don't see them adding Eberle at the deadline.
Now, to look at Parayko. There are more good reasons for adding Parayko than bad ones. He is a 6'6", 228 Lbs, right-shooting defenseman averaging 23:54 minutes of ice time. So, let's see, he's big, shoots right-handed, and can play a ton of minutes. He is the type of defenseman most teams look to acquire. The Leafs being interested in him makes perfect sense. However, do they want to pay him $6.5 million a season in his declining years? Probably not, but they could always try to unload him later.
He will be 36 when his contract expires. If he can play well until then, the money doesn't really matter.
As long as the Leafs can find a way of acquiring him at the deadline, most of his salary going forward would be the $5.5 million coming off the books this summer once defenseman T.J. Brodie leaves in free agency. If I had to choose between the two, I would acquire Parayko as he addresses a greater need on the team.