Toronto Maple Leafs internal and trade options for improving depth scoring

As of Sunday morning, nine forwards have played 200 minutes this season without scoring a goal. The Toronto Maple Leafs account for three of those nine (33%) on the list: Max Domi, Pontus Holmberg, and David Kampf.

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Bottom six options for the Leafs

From Seattle Kraken

Brandon Tanev, brother of Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev, has five goals and three assists for eight points through 19 games. He is a pending UFA in July and could be a short-term answer for the Leafs bottom six troubles.

Tanev has a ten-team no-trade list, but I find it hard to believe he would turn down the chance to play on the same team as his brother. He does carry a $3.5 million salary cap hit, and that is very expensive for what he brings. Treliving would likely try to make a trade with the Kraken happen that sees money coming in and money going out, but the other Tanev has a career high of only 16 goals and the Leafs will likely want to shoot higher. (Salary cap info from puckpedia.com)

Yanni Gourde is another possible option for the Leafs.

He could replace Kampf or Holmberg by bringing much more offense to the third line. However, he only has one goal this season through 19 games, so he likely isn't much of an upgrade, though he does have a history of being a decent NHL scorer (his career high is 25 goals and 64 points).

Gourde has registered at least 30 points every season for the past seven seasons and is a playoff performer. Fans of the Leafs have seen how he performed in the playoffs from when he played with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Gourde carries a $5.16 million cap hit, so the Leafs might need the Kraken to eat some of the salary to make adding him worth the cost.

In this case, the fact that he only has one goal might work in the Leafs favor and make him available at a discount.

A deal for either of these two could help the Leafs, but I would rather see Treliving go for Brandon Tanev over Yanni Gourde. However, the trade market isn't the Leafs only option - the Leafs brought up Minten yesterday and could also try several other options.

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