What Does a Dream Trade Deadline Look Like for the Toronto Maple Leafs?
The Toronto Maple Leafs may have had a somewhat disappointing season to date, but the idea that they won't be buyers at the NHL Trade Deadline is ridiculous, bordering on idiotic.
Of course the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be buying - if you have Auston Matthews on your team and he is in one of his limited prime years, you go for it.
No questions asked.
So the question is what do the Leafs need?
They need at least two defensemen, a left winger who can score, a 3rd line centre, and a goalie. They need the goalie more than anything else, and it's important that at least one of the positional additions is a star.
It's a tall order for besieged and unpopular GM Brad Treliving. His Calgary Flames are in rough shape, and his work so far with the Leafs has been terrible.
Treliving's only good personnel move so far was signing Tyler Bertuzzi who has been extremely unlucky and hits the all-star break with a weak six goals, despite excellent underlying numbers.
But besides Bertuzzi, Treliving's signings have all been a disaster. Max Domi has been a bust because he makes it nearly impossible for Keefe to have a balanced attack, since he can't play in the top six and he can't defend.
David Kampf and Ryan Reeves make up the most expensive - and by far the worst - 4th line in the NHL. And the less said about John Klingberg the better.
So to sum up: the Toronto Maple Leafs need a lot and have a general manager with a history of not being able to deliver.
Still, a boy can dream. So, with that in mind, here is what I'd consider the "dream scenario" of the upcoming NHL Trade Deadline.
The Goalie
The Toronto Maple Leafs have received the 14th best 5v5 goaltending in the NHL this year, and that is simply unacceptable.
What makes that even more concerning is that Martin Jones went on a bizarre hotstreak and will for-sure regress back to his sub-NHL norm. Joseph Woll has stolen at least three, maybe four games. While Ilya Samsonov stole a game and an OT loss.
All together, the Leafs current record is supported by at least five or six goalie thefts. While those are a good thing, you can't rely on them to keep happening when you don't have a trustworthy goalie on the roster.
I'm happy that Ilya Samsonov has had a couple of good games, but there is no way you can trust him as one of your two goalies on a quest to win the Cup this year. It would be an extremely low-reward, high-risk play and it would be stupid. He's got to go.
Martin Jones is a fine goalie to use if both your first two guys go down. But you don't want him anywhere near a playoff roster.
Joseph Woll would be an ideal backup when he returns from injury. You can't trust him to stay healthy, he has no experience and hasn't played a ton over the past three seasons. Additionally, there is no way of knowing how he's going to play when he returns from his high-ankle sprain.
Sticking with any of these guys as the starter would be extremely risky. The Leafs have almost no choice but to trade for a goalie.
The dream addition here is Juuse Saros. He is one of the few franchise goalies alive in the world today, and he would be by far the best goalie the Leafs have had since Ed Belfour retired.
The price would be high, but it's worth it to finally have an elite goalie backstopping an Auston Matthews led team.
The Blue-Line
On defense the Toronto Maple Leafs sure need a lot of help on the old blue-line and getting second-rate geezers like Chris Tanev isn't going to cut it.
Like Ben Chiarot before him, Chis Tanev is going to cost a 1st round pick. Like Detroit, whoever pays that stupid price is going to regret it forever.
Statistically, Chris Tanev is the 4th best defensemen on the Calgary Flames. Why would anyone want the 4th best defenseman on the Calgary Flames? Traditional hockey group-think is the correct answer, but I digress.
While Tanev is the nightmare addition that will cement Treliving's reputation as the new Ferguson JR, the dream addition is Jacob Chychrun of the Ottawa Senators.
Chychrun is young, affordable and potentially available. He makes $4.2 million for this year and next. He will cost a ton, but it's worth it.
The Leafs desperately need a player on another pairing besides Morgan Rielly's who can move the puck. Having 2 elite puck movers is essential for a team as loaded on forward as the Leafs so this is a no-brainer.
Chychrun would give the Leafs a boost by being - at worst - their 2nd best defensemen, but he'd instantly fix the problem the team has of moving the puck to their star forwards when Morgan Rielly isn't on the ice.
I think it's one of their biggest non-goaltending weaknesses right now, and this would address it perfectly.
Centre
Now, I don't have anything against Max Domi personally, but it's frustrating how people attribute his father's tenacity and toughness to a guy who absolutely refuses to play defense.
If used as a fourth line offensive player who only starts in the o-zone, a la Jason Spezza during the Leafs portion of his career, Domi might be effective.
As it is, the Leafs shelter him like crazy and he's still under 50% expected goals while only scoring a half point per game. The Leafs need more reliable third line, but they don't need to go old-school and bring in a checker.
The dream scenario here is to add a player who can eventually take over for John Tavares at 2C and who can make the Leafs better in his minutes without having to be sheltered as much as Domi.
Zegras had great stats in his first two years, but the Ducks have been so bad the last two years it is almost impossible to get a read on his game. The bottom line though, he's amazingly talented and would be an insane addition to a team that already has Marner and Matthews.
If the Ducks are frustrated and willing to move on, this is a great low-risk/high-reward move to take. Zegras would run wild against team's who have to use their best defenders on the Matthews and Nylander lines.
The Leafs have often had trouble scoring in the playoffs when teams are hyper focuses on shutting down their stars. The answer is more stars. This would be the Leafs leaning into their offensive abilities and it would be amazing.
Left Winger
OK, I admit the Leafs are not likely to add four stars to their team heading into the playoffs.
But they should. None of these deals are impossible to make, and there is hard proof that in a cap league, nothing but stars matter.
The Leafs need some help on the left-wing and so the final addition to the dream team here is Pavel Buchnevich.
Buchnevich is on pace for his 3rd straight 30 goal season, and he's a low-key star player that would make a huge difference in the Leafs lineup.
No offense to Matt Knies and his extremely bright future, but he's not getting it done on the top line this year. Buchnevich would be a massive upgrade.
The Blues are not likely to make the playoffs, and Buchnevich could be a player they move to recoup some assets for a future run.
The cost would be high, but again, the rewards here are potentially so high that the risk is easily worth it.
So how do the Leafs go all-in and achieve this dream scenario? Let's look into it.
How to Make It Happen
My Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Deadline Dream Scenario is as follows:
Juuce Saros in net, Jacob Chychrun on the blue-line, Trevor Zegras as the 3C and Pavel Buchnevich as the new left winger.
That, for the folks scoring at home, is a franchise goalie, a potential franchise centre, and two other star players. Sure, it's a dream, but it's not impossible.
Saros makes $5 million, so Ryan Reeves and Ilya Samsonov mostly allow the Leafs to make the salaries work.
Zegras makes $5.75 so the Leafs could afford him if Domi and Jarnkrok went the other way, again with maybe some slight retention on the Ducks part.
Finally Buchnevich makes $5.8 so the Leafs would need to pay enough here to make the Blues retain some of his salary. Kampf makes $2.4 and Timmins makes $1.1, so this could work if the Blue retain $2.4 million.
As I wrote earlier this week, the Toronto Maple Leafs have basically unlimited cap space, and this article shows how they could use it.
I'm not going to guess what all this would cost, but aside from the guys going the other way to make the salary work, it would cost multiple firsts and pretty much most of the team's top prospects.
I'd be fine with that. In the NHL, teams are way too conservative with their picks and prospects. This team would be absolutely insane and would be by far the NHL's best team. Who cares how Fraser Minten eventually turns out if you have a Stanley Cup? (all info capfriendly.com).
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A lineup with the additions of Chychrun, Saros, Zegras and Buchnevich would be an absolute Trade Deadline Master Class and cement GM Brad Treliving as a LEGEND and the greatest living human being on earth.