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The Toronto Maple Leafs made their big move late last week, acquiring centers Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari from St. Louis for a package of draft picks, but after the deal Leafs GM Kyle Dubas did not close the door on making another move before the March 3rd trade deadline.
"We are always looking to improve the team. It's hard to say right now because you get through these (trades) and everything goes quiet," Dubas said, "Things (will) start to pick up and people ask you 'what do you have left to do? What are you looking to do?' and if there's a way we can continue to improve the team, we'll continue to look at that."
The target area for that improvement is the blueline, where Toronto has eight healthy defensemen, but lacks a certain amount of physicality since the injury to Jake Muzzin early in the regular season. Dubas is likely out of the running for big-ticket items like Vladislav Gavrikov, Jake McCabe, or Jakob Chychrun, since the cost would likely include one or multiple high draft picks, and other rentals such as Shayne Gostisbehere, John Klingberg and Kevin Shattenkirk are not a stylistic fit for what Toronto is looking for.
The name mentioned most frequently in connection to the Leafs is Vancouver’s Luke Schenn. The former Toronto first-rounder leads the NHL in hits (258), is averaging more than 17 minutes per night for the Canucks, and his salary is $850,000. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicated on the …32 Thoughts… podcast that there is no guarantee that Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin will move the 33-year-old in the next 10 days unless he is able to get a high enough draft pick.
Toronto currently only has two picks (their fifth and sixth rounders) in 2023, but could have their third-rounder depending on the decision of the Arizona Coyotes. The Leafs traded a conditional draft pick in the Nick Ritchie / Ilya Lyubushkin deal last March. The Coyotes must make a decision before the deadline whether to keep Toronto’s 3rd in 2023 or a second-rounder in 2025. The third might be the return that Vancouver is looking for.
Other possibilities based on their lower salary are Seattle’s Carson Soucy ($2.75 million), Anaheim’s Dmitri Kulikov ($2.25 million), and New York’s Scott Mayfield ($1.45 million). The Kraken and Islanders are in races for a playoff spot, which could pull Soucy or Mayfield off the market, whereas Schenn and Kulikov are almost certain to be moved from their clubs. *******
The Leafs make their only visit to Buffalo on Tuesday, taking on the division-rival Sabres at Key Bank Center. Toronto will be playing their third game in four nights and put in a lethargic effort in a 5-3 loss to Chicago on Sunday. Buffalo will be playing their first home game in 10 days and are returning from a successful California road swing, with wins over Anaheim and San Jose.
Buffalo trails Florida and the Islanders by five points (who hold the two Eastern Conference wildcard spots), but they have six games in hand. The key to the Sabres making the postseason for the first time since 2011 will be improving on their record at home, where they are currently 11-14-2. It is expected that Ilya Samsonov will make the start for Toronto and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be between the pipes for Buffalo.
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