There was certainly going to be an adjustment period for the Toronto Maple Leafs after the offseason they had, and notably the departure of Mitch Marner. However, no one expected the season to go as badly as it has, with the Maple Leafs sitting in last in the Eastern Conference.
They hopefully will be able to turn their season around but might only be able to do it by being aggressive and making an early season trade or two. One of the teams they should be calling is the Vancouver Canucks.
On Monday night, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the Vancouver Canucks were listening to offers for 'veteran players'. While he doesn't list which players exactly, he does make it a point to name two players who aren't available in Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek.
Even without those players being available for the Toronto Maple Leafs, there are a few still available that could make sense to see if a deal can get done to help turn around the season.
3 Vancouver Canucks the Toronto Maple Leafs should try to trade for after the recent report
Kiefer Sherwood
Of all the players on the Canucks, Kiefer Sherwood is probably the most attractive to teams around the league, and probably where any team, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, is going to start when opening up trade discussions. Sherwood is currently on the final year of his contract, which was only a two-year deal worth $3 million with no clauses in the deal.
Through the first part of the season, Sherwood has far exceeded his contract with his performance on the ice. He is third on the Canucks in points with 16 through 21 games and is only behind Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson.
Sherwood would be an immediate upgrade for the Maple Leafs' Top 6 and would be the top target for Toronto in any trade discussions with Vancouver.
Conor Garland
The next player has to be mentioned, but it would be very surprising if the Canucks were looking to trade him. The reason it would be a surprise is that they just signed him to a six-year deal in July with one year left on his contract.
However, the fact that he is playing on his original contract might be a reason Vancouver looks to move him because next season, with the new contract, he has a full no-trade clause for the first three years and a modified no-trade clause for the last three.
Garland has been productive for the Canucks with 46 or more points in four straight seasons entering this season. He has improved his point per game average slightly this season and is on pace for 56 points.
He would also bring an upgrade to the Top 6 for the Maple Leafs but unlike Sherwood, the Maple Leafs would have to decide if they want to take that contract on. If they do, it could work in their favor as the Canucks might not ask as much as they might in a trade for Sherwood.
Evander Kane
While moves for Kiefer Sherwood and Conor Garland would be clear upgrades for the Maple Leafs, they may not want to make a big trade so early in the season. Rather, they may want to add a depth piece to see if that can help jump-start the team.
In that scenario, they may look to add someone like Evander Kane, who probably wouldn't cost much for the Canucks to move him. After missing the entire regular season last year with the Edmonton Oilers, he returned for the playoffs and had 12 points in 21 games.
The Oilers would trade Kane to the Canucks in a salary dump to create space, and have been somewhat productive with 11 points in 23 games with Vancouver. He is currently in the final year of his contract and has an AAV of $5.125 million along with a modified no-trade clause.
There isn't much long-term commitment for the Maple Leafs, and if it doesn't work, they could either try to trade him again before the deadline or let him walk in free agency. However, he is 34 years old, and if the goal is to get younger, this certainly doesn't achieve that.
It remains to be seen which players are being made available by the Vancouver Canucks but at the very least it warrants a call from the Maple Leafs to see if a deal can be done to help them start to dig out of the basement of the Eastern Conference.