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Leafs Q & A, New Year’s Day Edition |
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For the latest Leafs updates or on Twitter
Unlike 12 months ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs are not playing with a cold wind whipping off Lake Ontario on New Year’s Day. Instead, the Blue and White are preparing for their first home game since donning throwback Toronto Arenas jerseys and beating the Carolina Hurricanes 8-1 on December 19.
The month of December was bound to be difficult with 10 games on the road, but injuries after the Christmas break have revealed areas of concern that may need to be addressed as the squad enters 2018.
It is time once again to answer your questions from the wonderful world of Twitter:
A – In one of my recent columns, the names of Mike Green and Erik Gudbranson were brought up. Green is the most prominent of the pending UFA class and is an offensive-minded blueliner along the lines of Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly. Gudbranson is a big punishing blueliner with decent mobility.
Based on the Leafs current blueline complement, what type of defensemen they need and what it would cost on the trade market, Gudbranson would be a better and less expensive addition than Green. Hjarmalsson has another year left on his contract and with his Stanley Cup pedigree, it would not be surprising for Toronto to be interested in him. That being said, Arizona will likely be looking for players that can jump into their lineup right away and not draft picks or prospects.
A – With the current situation of Nikita Zaitsev being out until late January, if GM Lou Lamoriello believes it’s too early or too costly to acquire a defenseman, the best internal options are to reinsert Connor Carrick or call up Travis Dermott to replace Martin Marincin.
Marincin once again proved that he does not belong in the NHL with a couple of glaring errors in the 6-3 loss to Vegas on Sunday, but the Dermott option was not open to the Leafs when Zaitsev went down due to injury.
The 21-year-old returned for the Marlies on Sunday and registered three assists in a 5-1 win over Belleville.
A – Is the Leafs defense better with Zaitsev?? By leaps and bounds it is. The injury has exposed the lack of depth to the blueline, since Option A is more playing time for Polak and inserting Marincin in the lineup.
As for likely trade partners, it all depends whether Lamoriello decides to go for a rental or someone with term left on their contract.
If it is a rental, it really could be any team that has dropped out of the playoff race (Buffalo, Ottawa, Montreal, Arizona, etc), if they are looking for a long term solution, Carolina has long been my favorite with their stockpile of young defenseman, but that type of deal is more likely to happen in the summer.
A – I thought James van Riemsdyk made sense for Carolina last summer with younger brother Trevor there, the Canes clear need to upgrade their offense, a bevy of blueliners in the organization and the Leafs signing of Patrick Marleau in free agency. None of those factors have changed, but with a pending UFA unlikely to get back a Noah Hanifin or Justin Faulk in return, there is a better chance that Toronto keeps van Riemsdyk for the rest of the season and tries to re-sign him.
A – Komarov is a no, because he is a Babcock favorite and the return for him as a rental would be at best a second or third round pick. Bozak is more possible because teams needing centers could be willing to pay through the nose to get one, even a rental.
The only concern is that dealing Bozak means moving Marleau to the middle for the rest of the season and that does not sound like something Babcock or Marleau want to do.
A – Gardiner is someone that the Leafs could trade, but unless they are swapping him for someone who can eat up his minutes, that would be a move made during the summer.
Barrie is as offensive minded as Gardiner and has similar problems in his own end. Trouba might be a good fit with Rielly, could be on the market this summer with his contract coming up and two years away from unrestricted free agency and has expressed in the past his desire to play the right side, but the cost to acquire him may be too rich for the Leafs liking.
A – It’s all about trust. Babcock trusts that Komarov will play defensively responsible and not make mistakes, which is more important than scoring points.
The Leafs blueline is almost totally bereft of toughness and in spite of his declining mobility, Babcock has more confidence that Polak will make the right decisions and play the way he wants over Carrick.
A – Gudbranson is a former third overall pick and only 25 years old, but indications are that Vancouver is not going to re-sign him and willing to move him. For a defenseman making $3.5 Million on an expiring contract and with two assists in 26 games, there is not a chance that Lamoriello would have to give up any of the names you mentioned.
Toronto has an extra second round pick from the Roman Polak-to-San Jose deal a couple years ago and that might be enough to get Gudbranson.
A – Smith and Babcock did not get along in Detroit and he is signed for three more years at over $4 Million per season. Enjoy that contract, Rangers fans.
Nash has a no-movement clause and a $7.8 Million cap hit. Not happening this year, but you never know if the Leafs could be interested in the Toronto native in the summer.
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