The Leafs have been creeping their way up to the top of the Atlantic Division and are just a mere three points back of Tampa Bay. Sure they have played a couple more games but they are right with the Beast of the East and certainly will give Tampa a run for their money if they continue to cash in points.
It’s surprising to see the Montreal Canadiens sitting third in the Atlantic after that horrendous start to the season they had. The Leafs are still six points up on the Habs but will have to be prepared for a confident team the next time they square off. Montreal has won five in a row but will have a short lived time in a playoff spot as Boston has played three games less and will surely pass them in the near future. It’s important the Leafs continue to push forward as the Bruins are getting their health back and are not too far behind.
As for defense the Leafs have been better lately but the bottom line is they could really use an upgrade.
As I scoured around the league looking at potential teams that could be looking for a winger (since the Leafs have a plethora) I found three potential teams that looked like they had potential.
1. St Louis Blues (Joel Edmundson) 2. Nashville Predators (Ryan Ellis/Mattias Ekholm) 3. Washington Capitals (John Carlson *UFA at seasons end*)
The Blues are a quality team with decent goaltending and quality both upfront and on the back end. They have a similar record to the Leafs but could use some more pop upfront. In my opinion the Blues rely solely on their top six and the talent drops quite a bit after that.
Paajarvi-Berglund-Blais Upshall-Brodziak-Jaskin
Not exactly a booming bottom six, right?
Joel Edmundson isn’t a big name player, but he plays a big game (RFA at seasons end). At just 24 years of age Edmundson has 163 NHL games under his belt and only 33 points. He’s a monster defensively, and is chipping in a bit more often on the scoresheet this year with six goals and three assists in 27 games. He has a juicy 47 hits and 67 blocks though which is upper echelon when it comes to defensive stats. He logs just under 20 minutes a night playing alongside Colten Parayko. He’s not one for the man advantage but is surely useful when it comes to killing penalties. The Leafs would have to give up at least one decent winger to get their hands on the defender (if available), but they could also include a prospect or two with the winger which may entice an ageing St Louis blues team.
Nashville has a beastly defensive team; they already move Girard in that interesting three way trade which brought in Kyle Turris which of course sparked the team tremendously.
Ryan Ellis has been hurt, and he could be a great fit with the Leafs (although he would be costly). Another potential add could be Mattias Ekholm (he would be even more costly). Without question Nashville is a contending team, they have a lot of experience between the pipes with Rinne and some toppers on defense including Subban and Josi. Could one of Ekholm or Ellis be had?
Ekholm is signed to a glorious 5 year deal at only 3.75 which would fit in extremely well with the Leafs plans going forward as Nylander, Marner and Matthews will likely cost in the neighbourhood of 22-24 million for all three young studs. Ellis is signed for one more season after this year and only commands 2.5 million and then will become an unrestricted free agent (UFA).
Could the Leafs pluck one of these three gems from the Western Conference and give up some of their forward depth?
Some food for thought…
Lastly, going into the summer (yes thinking way ahead here), the best quality defenceman that could be had through UFA is John Carlson. It’s highly unlikely Toronto trades with Washington during the season as they are both looking to make impactful playoff runs. But if the Leafs are patient and a deal doesn’t come their way during the regular season, it could be a rather large pickup signing John Carlson to a quality deal on an up and coming Maple Leafs team. The right handed defenseman would be a huge add and could be just what the Leafs need to elevate themselves to that next level. It’s a future thought but never too early to look ahead when it comes to adding what could be the missing piece to the puzzle.
Thanks for reading, have a great day.