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It Is not going out on a limb to predict that the Toronto Maple Leafs will try to upgrade their defense before the NHL trade deadline, but with a little over two months left, no one knows for sure who will be available, what it will cost in terms of prospects or draft picks, and whether that player improve the club’s chances of playoff glory.
The vulnerability of the Leafs blueline has been illustrated by the loss of blueliner Nikita Zaitsev. Zaitsev has been a workhorse for Toronto during even strength and penalty killing situations and in his absence, Martin Marincin gets one step closer to playing in the NHL again, which is not an ideal situation for a team already dealing with defensive shortcomings.
With the club’s recent scoring woes, some believe that adding a puck rusher to bolster the offense should the focus of GM Lou Lamoriello, but in seeing the shortcomings in the Leafs top four, the best course of action would be to find a defensively responsible two-way defender.
Zaitsev’s injury is not suspected to be long term (possibly returning after the Christmas break), but Lamoriello has to be looking at potential available defensemen with their vulnerability in quality and depth.
Mike Green, Erik Gudbranson, Ian Cole, John Carlson and Jack Johnson are that the top of the rental market, but most of them are on teams that will likely make the post-season, which means the chances of them being available are slim.
Green may be the exception. The 32-year-old has 18 points for the declining Red Wings and may be an attractive target for teams looking for help on the power play and carrying the puck up the ice, but the price could be as steep as a first round pick and more for a rental with a career laden with defensive flaws.
Toronto did make that kind of trade by acquiring Brian Boyle from Tampa last spring, but dealing an extra second round pick and Bryon Froese is an altogether different situation then trading a top pick and a prospect playing for the Marlies or in Europe.
If Toronto is to give up assets to help improve their blueline, it will be for someone who they have some control over, so they have a chance to re-sign or get more than a couple months of service out of.
That does not mean they will be dealing for Erik Karlsson or Oliver Ekman-Larsson before February 26, but it could mean that blueliners with contracts expiring this summer (Cody Ceci, Matt Dumba, Noah Hanifin) or those with one year left (Niklas Hjalmarsson) will be on the Leafs wish list.
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The Leafs practiced for the second day in a row at the MasterCard Centre in preparation for their final home game of 2017; an unusual 2pm afternoon start against the Carolina Hurricanes celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Toronto Arenas first NHL game against the Montreal Wanderers.
Auston Matthews once again took to the ice on Monday, going through workouts with the club’s training staff for nearly an hour, but not participating in practice with his teammates, which all but rules out his return on Tuesday.
Head coach Mike Babcock has scrambled his lines again, with William Nylander moving back to center between Patrick Marleau and Zach Hyman (possibly due to the benefit of having the last change). Connor Brown skated with Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov, while Mitch Marner lined up with James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak and Kasperi Kapanen played with Matt Martin and Dominic Moore.
Connor Carrick was paired once again with Jake Gardiner, which likely means that he will see action for the first time since the last time the Leafs played Carolina on November 24.
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