The Toronto Maple Leafs enjoyed a little time in the Florida sun before returning to action against the Panthers at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL on Sunday. The Leafs have a busy week ahead of them, with four games starting with a contest against their Atlantic Division rival.
Toronto were passed by the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning after the end of their 10-game consecutive points streak with home losses to Edmonton and Winnipeg last week. The Leafs have three games at Scotiabank Arena against New Jersey, Calgary, and Chicago before an eight-day respite for their scheduled bye week and the NHL All-Star break.
The Panthers trail Toronto by three points for third place in the Atlantic and are one point behind Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference wildcard race.
The Leafs will go with Frederik Andersen in goal and the same lineup that played in the shootout loss to the Jets, with Mason Marchment as a healthy scratch and Trevor Moore and Andreas Johnsson getting closer to returning.
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Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has often stated that he remains open to improving his club if a deal makes sense, and based on their continued issues defensively, it would not be surprising that Toronto would look for options to improve their blueline before the February 24th trade deadline.
On HNIC’s Saturday Headlines, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned that the San Jose Sharks will likely shop rentals like Melker Karlsson and pending UFA defenseman Brenden Dillon, and that Dillon might be someone that the Leafs kick tires on.
Dillon would provide size (6’4” 225 lb.) and experience (nine NHL seasons with Dallas and San Jose), but the 29-year-old has a $3.27 Million cap hit, which means that Dubas would have to clear salary to add him or another defenseman prior to the deadline.
One potential option might be trading Cody Ceci as a rental if the belief is that Dillon would be an upgrade. Moving Ceci and his $4.5 Million cap hit could bring back a mid-round pick in return from a contending club needing a right-handed defenseman.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe is not as married to left-right defensive combos as Mike Babcock, so if they add a lefty like Dillon, it could result in Morgan Rielly or Travis Dermott moving to the right side.
Another possibility would be to trade either Andreas Johnsson or Kasperi Kapanen (who have long term deals in the mid-$3 Million range) for young prospects on their entry-level contract, a high draft pick (since Toronto traded their first round pick to Carolina) or a comparably aged defenseman under control for multiple seasons, but with blueliners an extremely valuable commodity, that kind of deal is a long shot.
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