The Toronto Maple Leafs should target two specific RFA's at the NHL Trade Deadline this year.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs want to bolster their future while helping their chances at winning a Stanley Cup this year, the team needs to target the RFA defenseman market, specifically with Noah Dobson and Bowen Byram.
The Leafs biggest issue right now is their defense. As it currently stands their top six is the following: Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev/Morgan Rielly-Oliver Ekman-Larsson/Simon Benoit-Philippe Myers. As you can see, after Tanev/McCabe/Rielly, the team's defense falters immediately. The Leafs cannot afford to go into the playoffs with that combination and I'm worried that Ekman-Larsson may be the second-coming of John Klingberg.
So for the total price of $7.85M, the Leafs have the ability to upgrade thier defense immensely for the now and for the future.
Dobson is a 25-year-old right-handed defenseman, who can add some offense, but more importantly is defensively responsible. At 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, Dobson is a legitimate top-pairing defenseman and someone you'd want to lock up for another eight years.
Toronto Maple Leafs Should Trade for Dobson and Byram
As for Byram, he's the former No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, who hasn't quite lived up to his expectations, though only because of injuries, which is why the Avalanche trade him to Buffalo straight up for Casey Middlestadt last year.
Byram has excelled in Buffalo and is a star player and he's still only 23 years-old and should be one of the Leafs top trade targets.
You may think that adding both of these defensemen is impossible, but with such a little cap-hit it's very manageable. By only trading Ekman-Larsson ($3.5M), David Kampf ($2.4M) and Ryan Reaves ($1.4M) the team would be able to afford both players, and if they needed to, they could easily get another team like Utah or Chicago to eat salary for a draft pick.
Personally, I can't think of a better defenseman to invest in than Dobson, as he would be my number-one target, so if you have to trade a first-round pick and high-end prospect for him, go for it. As for Byram, he would also be a similar price, but it would be worth it to add 2 x top-pairing defenseman to an already good team.
The Leafs have a ton of salary-cap available for the next three years and should look at these two RFA's to invest in because they'll be able to help the team now, but in the future as well.